Right now when you look at virtual reality headsets, there are basically two types of headsets we can choose from. We can choose to spend a lot of money for headsets like the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, or we could choose to save money with headsets like the Samsung Gear VR or Google Cardboard, both of which rely on our smartphones to do most of the heavy lifting.
Now if you have no intention of dropping hundreds of dollars on a virtual reality headset but don’t want to miss out on its capabilities, there’s an app called VRidge that you might want to check out. The app will play nicely with headsets like the Google Cardboard and basically what it does is that it adapts the features of headsets like the Oculus Rift onto your smartphone. This means you could sort of replicate the experience of an Oculus Rift on a cheap headsets like the Google Cardboard.
How it works is that there is a server program that you need to download on your PC that will stream the content from your PC onto the app on your phone as long as they are connected to the same WiFi network. The only downside is that not all VR-enabled games are compatible with the app, and let’s face it, the experience isn’t quite 100% the same given the differences in hardware and also the lack of external controllers.
However if you just want an idea of how a more fully-functional VR headset would be like and whether or not it will be a good investment, this is an affordable way of finding out. The app is free so head on over to Google Play for the download.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, Google Cardboard and Virtual Reality (VR).