It’s ridiculously easy to use: you simply hold out your phone in portrait mode and carefully rotate horizontally, following a line as you would any other panorama. Then, place your phone inside the Cardboard accessory to experience what you recorded in virtual reality. You can look around in either direction to check out the scene, though you can only move from left to right, there's no up and down. You can even record sound to accompany the moment. If it’s a tour of your living room, for instance, then the person experiencing the tour will hear you say, “And here’s my $1,700 couch, which my cat has clawed into oblivion. Such is the plight of being a cat owner.”
Why this matters: Google is always offering neat apps to keep you entertained, but Cardboard Camera has the potential to be more. You can use the app to create memories for yourself, or to share immersive experiences with others. It’s also a great way for Google to get even the average mobile user interested in using VR, even if it’s just the pared-down VR you get with Cardboard.