Google is adding more features to its
Cardboard virtual reality headset and software development kit, to celebrate the search company's expansion of the Cardboard app into over 100 countries for both
iOS and
Android. As part of an update to the
Cardboard SDK, developers will now see improvements to the way it works on iOS, courtesy of changes to how it works with
Unity, a popular multi-platform game engine.
The Cardboard SDK for Unity adds support for a fully Unity-native distortion pass, allowing apps to avoid major plugin issues and enabling Metal rendering on iOS, as well as multi-threaded rendering on Android. Another to the Cardboard SDKs that directly affects developers is an improvement in drift correction, with Google performing a "major overhaul" of sensor fusion algorithms that use the gyroscope and accelerometer, minimizing drift on some devices.
The SDKs are now published in ten different languages, with the Google Cardboard app available in 39 languages and more than 15 million installations via Google Play to its name. In terms of extra items immediately usable by owners of the VR headset, Google has added Cardboard support to the Google Street View app on
iOS and
Android, allowing user to view the surroundings wherever the Street View cars have travelled.
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