Find out how Google’s Cardboard turns your smartphone into a virtual reality headset for less than $5

Google has developed a low cost virtual reality (VR) cardboard kit that can help you access seamless apps for less. It is intended to encourage interest and development in VR and VR applications.  It was created by David Coz and Damien Henry, Google engineers at the Google Cultural Institute in Paris, in their 20% “Innovation Time Off”, and introduced at the 2014 Google I/O developers conference for Android devices.

The kit comprises cardboard cut into a precise shape, 45 mm focal length lenses, magnets or capacitive tape, a hook and loop fastener (such as Velcro), a rubber band, and an optional near field communication (NFC) tag. The kit is available for less than $5 from multiple vendors, who have also created a number of Cardboard variations. Once the kit is assembled, a smartphone is inserted in front of the lenses and held in place by the rubber band. A Google Cardboard–compatible app splits the smartphone display image into two, one for each eye, to create the impression of a stereoscopic 3D image with a wide field of view.

Watch the video below to find out how you can get VR using your smartphone and the Google cardboard box.

Learn how to build your own Google cardboard box at home!

So get started and release yourself into the virtual reality world!