Today we've launched our 3D Photosphere VR app for Carding Mill Valley. You can download it from the Android Play Store (just search "cardingmill") to your Android phone, and it works with or without a Google VR Headset.
This app is intended as a counter-part to our FieldscapesVR app so that people can compare the two approaches to virtual reality field trips. With this app there are three photospheres which give you a photo-realistic view of the valley at 3 key points. However you cannot visit any other part of the valley, or fly around.
By contrast FieldscapesVR provides a 3D model of the valley which is less realistic looking than the photospheres, but which allows you to move anywhere around (and above) the detailed 3D model. In due course we will also be able to provide far more interactivity in the 3D model version than in the Photosphere.
The valley is a popular site for school field trips and the application is primarily intended to allow schools to:
- virtually visit the site whilst planning their field trip
- to use when back at school as part of their further studies and during revision
The application is very much intended as a "beta" of the final product, so we'd be delighted to hear your views.
The application can be used without a VR Headset in a normal "single-screen" mode but we recommend buying an Amazon Cardboard to get the full benefit (and it makes it a lot easier to use out on the ground in bright sunlight!). If you do need a headset, ensure that you get one which has a button or trigger, as that is (currently) required to use the app in VR mode.
Do try both versions and let us know how they compare either: