Screenmirroring & Article about Google Cardboard

Hey!

I'm sorry that there haven't been posts for such a long time... But now I'm back with a new post and there are going to be a few more in the next weeks ;-)

So what am I going to write about today? First I want to show you a possibility to mirror the screen of your phone to your laptop via Wi-Fi. I spent some time on figuring out how to do this, because if you are playing VR games on your phone none of your friends around can see where you are right now or what scares you so much. If you simply mirror the things you see to a laptop your friends can understand why you are having so much fun right now. The second thing I want to tell you about today is an article about Google Cardboard I found at golem.de.

Screenmirroring

I believe that mirroring your screen makes VR-gaming on your phone a bit more social. It's more fun to play in groups when everybody can see what you are going through.
So how can you mirror your screen?
On my laptop I am using the AllCast Receiver. It's a Chrome app which means you have to install Chrome on your computer (if you haven't done this yet).
After opening Chrome click HERE to get the AllCast Receiver App. Now your computer is prepared - let's switch to your Android phone. Here you have to install Mirror Beta (I also tried it with the AllCast App but with this App you can only view photos, videos and stuff like this but it's not possible to mirror your screen).
After you have installed both apps just make sure that both components (phone & computer) are in the same network and start the receiver. After this start the app at your phone and look for your computer by clicking at it you start mirroring. Now you can do anything you want on your phone and see it on your computer too. By swiping down from the top you can stop mirroring or decide whether you want to show touches on the screen or not (which doesn't really matter to us because the phone is in the glasses anyway).
Depending on your network it can be that there is a little lag but normally it should work very well.

Article at golem.de

I told you that I've found an interesting article about VR at golem.de. Now I want to tell you a bit about what they are writing and my opinion about it. 

At first they are introducing the Cardboard as the probably most unremarkable but cheapest VR-glasses. Originally you couldn't even buy it - Google just spread it at their developer conference I/O. Now they are also selling it and there are lots of other VR-glasses for mobile devices available too. One thing they also say, is that you should be aware that the glasses you are buying have this magnet button on the side, which simulates a tap on the display. From my experience I can say that this button is mostly needed in the original cardboard apps but most of the apps are just controlled by gestures so the button is a good feature but not necessary.

Then they started writing about the Google Cardboard app. I believe that this app is good for users that are starting with VR - and in their article you can see that they have the same opinion. The apps they are listing in the Cardboard app are fun but there are also better apps available on the market. But you can not only test apps they also provide some demos, movies and you can also view your own videos. One feature the writer of the article was really impressed about was the Photo-Sphere-Viewer. I have to agree the Photo-Sphere-Viewer is just awesome!! With the Google Camera App you can take Photo Spheres (it works similar to taking Panorama Photos but you have to go in all directions in order to create a sphere). While taking the pic it doesn't look good at all but after you finished it and view your photo sphere with your glasses it looks amazing - you have to try it out! You can also view your old panorama photos with this viewer - just rename it to PANO_*yourname*.jpg. But the photos may need some editing - you can do this with Photosphere XMP Tagger or you can view already existing spheres from Orbulus.

Next they are talking about videos - there are some videos of life concerts, sport events or you can sit next to a car racer. The great thing about these videos is, that you have the full 360° view and turn your head in every direction. One thing I don't like that much about those videos is that there is no user interaction as you are just watching the scenes. 

The writer of the article also says that in the long term it's more interesting to create your own film and view it in 3D. As he writes it should be pretty easy to create such a film (you just need two cameras and a converter) and you can view it for example with Cardboard Theater. They recommend two apps to view and create photos: Those apps are Stereogram to view old photos and the paid App VR 3D Smart Cardboard where you can take photos with the stereo effect (when you are looking at a VR app without your glasses you can see that the 2 images for the left and right eye are not completely the same - there is a little offset in one direction). 

I really liked the Stereogram app because I'm a fan of viewing old photos - if you can "stand" in the scene and view it it's even cooler ;-)

Another app to capture 3D photos is Seene. But I don't really like this app as you can just tilt the phone a few centimeters and you can't have a look around in your photos as with the Photo Scene.

Before they are giving a conclusion they are talking about some games. They point out Vanguard V as a really good game and i have to agree. Vanguard V is fun playing and the graphics are also very good. But as lots of other VR games it's just a demo - so there is only level 1 finished.

The next game they are talking about is Proton Pulse which is a paid app so I haven't tested it yet. Another game they've tested is Lamper VR they say it's a little but pretty game and I have to agree. Lamper VR is a nice game to have fun with your VR glasses. 

Another paid game is AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! where you fall through houses and have to avoid obstacles - the VR version of this game is called Caaaaardboard!. But you are always looking down while playing this game so it's better to play it when you are already used to VR glasses because otherwise you could feel sick very fast.

In his conclusion the writer says that with the Cardboard you can get a cheap "entry" to the VR world. Of course the immersion effect and the 3D-experience of Oculus or Gear VR are better but those glasses are way more expensive. He says that he likes the cardboard is especially for taking VR photos and for kids. At the moment it seems that lots of projects don't have enough money to finish their games... Google wants to hold the costs for users as low as possible so it's difficult to fund such games because not many people pay 10€ for an app.

The fact that there are so many games not finished is a big disadvantage of mobile VR. But the thing I really like about those glasses is that you can take them anywhere just in your pocket and maybe this could be the secret to the success of the Cardboard. Let's see what the future is going to bring ;-)

If you want to read the full (German) article you can view it HERE.

Bluetooth Controllers for Android devices

Hey alltogether!

Last time I showed you how to set up the ColorCross VR glasses and how to start your first app. But VR Games really start to be interesting when it comes to interact with the app, when you are able to move in the game and to make some actions. Of course it's not possible to control the game over the touchscreen of your phone because you can't reach it. So there are two possibilities left: Controlling the game by moving your head or using a controller. Both are pretty common in VR games.

Today I'm going to write about two controllers you can use for playing and how to connect them to your Android phone.
At first I'd like to show you the controller I'm using: the idroid:con from Snakebyte, then I'm going to write about the iPega PG-9021

Snakebyte idroid:con

How to connect the controller to your Android phone

The idroid:con from Snakebyte is a wireless controller you can use for Android and iOS devices. You can start it in 5 different modes:

Mode	Button	LED	Systems
Game Controller 1	X	1	Android 3.2+ / PC
Game Controller 2	X + Y	1 + 2	Android 3.2+ / PC
Keyboard	A	3	Android 2.3+ / iOS / PC
Mouse	B	2	Android 2.3+ / PC
Keyboard & Mouse	A+B	2 + 3	Android 2.3+ / PC
iCade	Y	1 + 3	iOS

To power the controller on you just press the button for your desired mode and the power button for 3 seconds.

For the most apps it's good to start the controller in Gamepad mode (Power + X) but for some apps you need to start the controller in the Keyboard mode (Power + A).
After turning on the controller activate Bluetooth on your Android device, search for the controller and pair it to your device. After this you can use the controller with your phone :-)

My opinion
You can buy the controller on Amazon for €18,50. I think you get a really good value for your money. The idroid:con is easy to connect and use and you can set it up really fast.

iPega PG-9021

How to connect the controller to your Android phone

At the beginning I had troubles connecting the controller to my Nexus. Of course I didn't read the manual and didn't know that the controller requires an app to connect it to the phone ;-)
After I've read the manual it took me about half an hour to find the right version of the app (I had to navigate through a few very strange looking Chinese websites until I finally managed to download the right apk. I've uploaded it to my Dropbox - you can download it here.
After downloading the app install it on your device and open it. After opening it, it asks you to set Bitgames IME as your default input method. To do so click on the first Button ("Bitgames IME") and check Bitgames IME as an input method. Return to the app, click on the second Button ("Default Input Method") and select Bitgames IME. After this click "Done" and navigate to "My Device" in the menu at the bottom.

Power your controller on (to power it on expand the plastic in the middle and look for the power switch). Afterwards click on the "Add Gamepad" Button, search for your device and select "Bind". After this you are ready to play :-)

My opinion
You can buy the controller on Amazon for €24,99. It's a bit pricier than the idroid:con but I really prefer the idroid:con.
One thing that's really annoying about this game pad is that you always have to reconnect it to your phone after powering off the controller.
On the other hand a big plus is the plastic thing in the middle where you can put your phone in. It doesn't make any difference for VR games, but it's really nice if you are playing "normal" games with the controller.

Conclusion

When it comes to choosing between the Snakebyte idroid:con and the iPega PG-9021 I'd definitely choose the Snakebyte controller. It's way easier to connect (and you don't have to download this strange app from an even more strange Chinese website ;-)) and also cheaper.

Virtual Reality for Android Smartphones: Setup and first app

Wouldn't it be great to escape reality from time to time and to just beam yourself to another country, to outer space or anywhere else?
Well, I think it would be  - and with VR it's possible. And even better: with VR for smartphones it is possible everywhere!

That's the reason why I'm starting this blog. My name is Kathi and I really like the idea of escaping into another world anytime I want to. In the upcoming posts I'm going to write about the best games, the glasses and controllers available, the right setup and much more.

Let's start with my equipment and my first experience with mobile VR:

My Equipment:

Glasses:
I am using the ColorCross Universal Virtual Reality 3D & Videoglasses
On Amazon they say you can use it for smartphones with screen sizes from 3.5 to 6 inches. When I am using it with my Nexus5 (5 inch) it's just perfect, but I wouldn't recommend it for bigger devices. I've also tried it with a OnePlus One (5.5 inch) but the experience is not as good as with the smaller phone because a part of the screen is missing and so the 3D Image doesn't look really good because the image for one lens is different from the image for the other lens. I haven't tried it with smaller devices yet, so I don't know how it works out with smaller phones.

Phone:
As I told you before, I am using a Nexus 5 - it's just perfect for the glasses I'm using.

Controller:
Here I'm using the Snakebyte iDroid:con

Set up everything and start your first app
In my first post I'd like to show you the first app I've tried with mobile VR. It's just a roller coaster demo - but I think it's awesome! I even felt a bit dizzy after my first "ride".

At first download this app to adjust your glasses.

Adjusting the glasses: you can adjust the ColorCross VR glasses pretty good to match your phone. At first you open it like in the following picture and put your phone in. Then you can see if the size of your phone fits to the glasses, or if you have to make the holder a bit larger. You can do this by pulling out the plastic on one side (picture 2).

Then start the app you downloaded before and put your phone into the glasses. With the app you know how the distance between your lenses has to be. You can adjust the lenses with the slider on top of the glasses (picture 3).  After adjusting your lenses you are ready to start!

Let's start with the first app I've tried - it's a roller coaster demo - you can download it here.
After downloading it, start it and wait for the advertisement to click it away and then you can put your phone into your glasses. By starting the app hold your phone in the direction you are going to put it in the glasses afterwards. When the roller coaster appears just stare at the pry on the right side and wait for the ride to begin. It starts really slow - time to lean back and enjoy the environment ;-)

Next time I'll write about the controllers and of course a few more games. - Kathi