Viewing the field with Google Cardboard

Technical Technical Discussion
1

As I was browsing thecompetition manual downloads page, the list of “Google Cardboard camera images” caught my eye. I thought it would be cool to see what the field looks like, if only for the drivers to get a better idea of relative distances before actually going to the competition. They seem to be standard panoramic images taken from a smartphone, if the EXIF metadata is to be believed.

I downloaded them to my phone and tried to open them in the “Google street view” app, since it claims to be able to open photo spheres and view them in 3d. However, when I import them, the app won’t accept them for whatever reason. I assume that there needs to be a special EXIF tag to indicate they are panoramas, which wasn’t included in the download apparently.

So after some research, I went to http://street-sphere.appspot.com/ and used it to modify the photos to contain the proper tags. I’ve attached the photos, and you should be able to import these directly into an app like Google street view.

TL;DR - whoever uploaded the panoramas didn’t check their work. These will work with Google Cardboard.

PS: if you’re wondering why one of them is a zip, “Your file of 2.02 MB bytes exceeds the forum’s limit of 2.00 MB for this filetype.” :frowning:

Kickoff2016BlueEnd.vr.jpg (0 Bytes)
Kickoff2016Center.vr.jpg (0 Bytes)
Kickoff2016SpyBox.vr.jpg (0 Bytes)
Kickoff2016RedEnd.vr.jpg.zip (1.61 MB)


Kickoff2016BlueEnd.vr.jpg (0 Bytes)
Kickoff2016Center.vr.jpg (0 Bytes)
Kickoff2016SpyBox.vr.jpg (0 Bytes)
Kickoff2016RedEnd.vr.jpg.zip (1.61 MB)

2

Thank you very much i was having the hardest time trying to view these photos

3

Actually, if you use the Google Cardboard Camera app, it works perfectly: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.vr.cyclops

4

Visibility is better then I expected actually.

I am going to try to convince my team to purchase an oculus rift for demos. If I do convince them we will probably record a 360 behind the glass video. Which would be very interesting.

5

Not for me on iPhone… They must be slightly different apps.

6

Thank you. Very helpful and appreciated.

7

Once they are on my phone, how would I open them in Google Cardboard?

8

Yes they did; read the website more carefully. The images are listed as “Google Cardboard Camera” images, emphasis mine.

You don’t, you open them in Google Cardboard Camera, a separate app. As long as you have the images downloaded to your phone, they should appear as selectable immediately after opening the app and inserting your phone into your Google Cardboard viewing device.

9

Looks like that’s for Android only.