YouTube app dives deep into VR with new Google Cardboard support
Google announced that the YouTube Android app now support videos shot specifically for VR and will reformat anything in the vault for replay on a Cardboard-compatible viewer.
You can try it out with a couple of videos designed just for these tricks, like The Hunger Games Virtual Reality Experience and the Toms Shoes Giving Trip.
While YouTube has supported 360-degree videos for a while, the new VR videos are specifically designed for use with a set of VR goggles.
If you want to go deeper into the VR rabbit hole, you’re now able to watch any YouTube video with your VR viewer. When you launch a new video in the Android app just touch the Cardboard icon and it will reconfigure itself. The video still plays in 2D, albeit in a "virtual theater."
Google also threw in some updates to the Cardboard app, such as a splashy new introduction video and more realistic screenshots for other apps that work with Cardboard.
To get going with all the new goodies in the YouTube Android app, you can grab the latest version from the Google Play Store or APK Mirror.
Why this matters: Google is making a big push into virtual reality with its Cardboard effort, which is an open source and low cost model for VR goggles. The technology is pretty new (although there are some good apps to try out), so time will tell if this is really the future or another fad.