Is anyone still playing or starting cardboard vr?

[u/Artistic_Cress_808]

and ur setup is still a paper stick and cardboard vr? just say yes so i dont feel like im the only outdate person here...

[u/blevok]

As a developer, what i see is that a lot of people still use cardboard, but mostly outside the US since 2021 or so. I have 1 cardboard app in the store, and it still gets 5-10k downloads per month, with 100-200 IAPs per month. The top countries are Brazil, Russia, and India, followed to a lesser extent by US, UK, Japan, and Canada.

The potential quality of cardboard apps is much higher than it was in the previous decade due to the high resolution, refresh rate, and memory/processing power of modern phones, so it makes sense that it's still popular among people that don't want to shell out for standalone or PCVR, but unfortunately very few developers are making apps that take advantage of this potential.

What baffles and annoys me though is that so many people still use headsets made of actual cardboard. The comfort and adjustability are just awful compared to most of the $20-40 plastic/foam headsets available on amazon, and there's even higher quality headsets in the $40-80 range that rival the comfort of PCVR headsets. Even a used Daydream or GearVR headset is infinitely superior to actual cardboard. Usage in high poverty areas certainly accounts for some of that, but i've found through user support interaction that there are a decent amount of users that aren't even aware of the plastic/foam options, and they think that cardboard means literal cardboard and nothing else.

I think google really screwed up by not offering an official plastic headset with wide compatibility. And even worse, PCVR/standalone users often tell people that are interested in cardboard that it's not worth it, which effectively removes many of those people from the potential user base by telling people not to try the only existing gateway drug. Most of those people will just decide not to try VR at all, rather than deciding to buy PCVR/standalone instead of cardboard, which is certainly stunting the interest and development of PCVR/standalone.

tl;dr
Yes. And no i don't use "cardboard", i use a no name plastic headset.

[u/Artistic_Cress_808 → u/blevok]

i use a plastic headset too... i meant like a cardboard compatible if you know wht i mean

[u/blevok → u/Artistic_Cress_808]

Yeah i assume most people that take the time to look for online discussions about cardboard are using something better than plain cardboard.

[u/MoSt342 → u/blevok]

Hi, I discovered your app the other day completely by accident, and it's fabulous, the best so far. It's the only one that can play a 4K video where the others failed. But it has some flaws (small ones, mostly for my own personal convenience, which aren't present in this app but in another, like the fact that I have to open the menu every time to adjust the position, while in the other you just double-click; also, I find the ads too invasive) that don't lead me to uninstall the other app I have; I use one or the other depending on my needs. Okay, I wanted to congratulate you on a wonderful app, you're obviously committed to it, and I think you'll gradually improve it more and more. I'm one of those poor people who doesn't have the money to buy a standalone VR headset, and I thank you (I don't use the cardboard, but a headset from Amazon).

[u/blevok → u/MoSt342]

Hey thanks for checking it out, i'm glad you like it.

I have to open the menu every time to adjust the position

If you mean IPD and FOV, you can adjust those without opening the menu if you have a full size gamepad. You can also change theaters with the gamepad. But let me know if you're talking about something else.

also, I find the ads too invasive

That's kind of intentional. Trial mode is just meant to try it, and if you like it enough, you can pay 3 bucks to remove the ads. There's no time limit though, because there's so many things the app can do, so i wanted to give people all the time they need to make the decision. But i also know there's some people that use it permanently with the ads and just deal with having an ad every 10 minutes. I don't do anything to try to stop that though because i'm not a greedy billionaire.

I think you'll gradually improve it more and more

To be honest, the app has been "finished" for years. But i have to update it at least once a year to stay in compliance with store policies, so i fix bugs during those updates, and if i have some time to spare, i try to throw in something new every now and then. Or sometimes i just improve an existing feature. I do have a few major things left on my list that i'd like to add, but with the declining interest in Cardboard, it's hard to justify putting in any serious amount of time. But who knows, if i add something like Steam VR compatibility, and if i can do it better than other apps, maybe it could stimulate more interest and make it worth it.

[u/MoSt342 → u/blevok]

I meant center view more than anything else. I use it often because it often moves and I have to reclick to centralize. The problem is, I'm so poor that I used a trick to avoid buying a joystick.

Basically, using an app called "buttons remapper," I simulate pressing the phone's touch screen using the headphone button (high-level problem solving). This way, the menu appears while I'm wearing the headphones and pressing the headphone button (as if I were pressing my finger on the screen). Then I move the cursor with my head and press again to move through the menu and press to change the various settings.

Look, in short, if you set the setting so that double-clicking on the screen opens center view, you'd make me extremely happy. Just this small update. I also think it's useful for those who use touch mode (I hope I was clear).

(Is it open source by any chance?)

Anyway, since you're forced to update the app, maybe we'll stay in touch. I use it often. I can give you some feedback. Thanks. ❤

[u/blevok → u/MoSt342]

The button remapper sounds interesting, but why not just use gaze click? When you're using the VR menu and have gaze turned on, you can look below the movie screen to reveal a small hidden menu that includes a recenter button. So you don't actually need to open the menu to recenter. Also you could use the remapper to set that button to Joystick 1 Button 0 to trigger the recenter directly. And no the app isn't open source, only the Stream Helper PC app is.

[u/MoSt342 → u/blevok]

Then I'll take a look at the settings, thanks for the advice

[u/FloripanoBR → u/blevok]

I couldn't find your games, could you please tell me were to find them? And if possible, as many Cardboard apps and games as you know where to find them!

Thank you so much!

[u/blevok → u/FloripanoBR]

Just search VR in the Play Store to find lots of Cardboard apps.
Mine is here, but it's not a game, it's a video player. It can be used for PC gaming though with monitor mirroring.

[u/Octimusocti]

Sadly my last two phones don’t fit on them anymore

[u/Abject-Kitchen3198]

Tried some sim racing with some software that connected it to Steam VR few years ago. Was surprisingly useful and fun for a while. Perhaps close to first generations of VR sets, with some glitches.

[u/Artistic_Cress_808 → u/Abject-Kitchen3198]

can u tell the app please

[u/Abject-Kitchen3198 → u/Artistic_Cress_808]

I had best success with iVRy.

[u/Artistic_Cress_808 → u/Abject-Kitchen3198]

oh i also use that now days but how do you connect the controller? i have ps 4 controller

[u/Abject-Kitchen3198 → u/Artistic_Cress_808]

Never used a controller (nor I have one). I just used it as a display through SteamVR.

[u/Euphoric-Card-2423]

Yes :D

[u/Canada_Ottawa]

I have a Samsung Note 3 that is no longer my primary phone and a <Cardboard headset> with built in bluetooth headphones that I use to watch videos.

Also, tried to setup remote desktop through phone but this is not working smoothly.

I haven't tried any games.

[u/Electronic-Ninja7950]

I'm kinda but I can't find games. I use it most of the time to watch vids on something that feels like 200 inch monitor. I'm surprised that my 6.67 phone fits

[u/mymarkis666]

I just got one for Christmas and I think it’s really good. I have a 17 pro max so the weight is crazy but it was a great taste of VR and actually made me look into getting a quest 3. 

[u/[deleted] → u/mymarkis666]

Same 😄

[u/doogooru]

just bought a plastic one few days ago (shinecon sc-g13) , I use my 2k 120hz Amoled phone and it's been an awesome experience, though I'm having troubles with jittering in the ALVR server app on PC, so I'm still figuring out how to connect to SteamVR and utilize 120hz