Google Brings 'Cardboard' Virtual Reality Headset to iOS With New SDK, iPhone App

Google last year debuted Google Cardboard, an inexpensive virtual reality platform that combined a cardboard mount and lens with a smartphone to create a virtual reality headset.

Up until today, Google Cardboard has only been available for Android users, but at its Google I/O event, Google announced a new Google Cardboard app for iOS. The new app lets the Cardboard system work with Apple's iPhones for the first time.

With a Cardboard viewer and an iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, or 6 Plus, the Cardboard app can be used to explore virtual environments, use a virtual kaleidoscope, view 3D objects in a virtual museum, and take hikes through cities around the world.

Google also announced a new version of Cardboard at its I/O event, which can accommodate phones as big as six inches. It also has a new activation "switch" that is constructed of cardboard instead of magnets, allowing it to work with all phones.

There are several third-party companies that have constructed Cardboard viewers based on Google's Cardboard specifications, which can be purchased at prices that start at $20. Google also provides instructions that let users make their own Cardboard headsets.

Google Cardboard can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]