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Now it’s 2023, and you can enjoy VR on your iphone for free. *Pretty Easily*
Google Cardboard style 3D VR videos became popular between 2014 and 2016. Those brown cardboard box goggles. You put your phone inside the goggles. Then you put the goggles over your eyes.
The same Google Cardboard style side-by-side VR videos can be watched on iPhone 12, but it’s not that simple.
You can try 180 and 360 degree virtual reality for free on an iPhone without a headset, for example, at YouTube’s Virtual Reality Channel.
If you sleep on the idea then wake up the next morning still determined to responsibly purchase an inexpensive VR headset made to put your iPhone inside #ad, then let’s take necessary steps toward watching VR for your very first time!
These are the types of VR videos you can watch on your iPhone, even better with an iPhone-compatible VR headset.
Yes. You can use VR on an iPhone, with just an iPhone, with no extra gear involved.
When you’re not using a headset, the best VR experience on iPhone is 180VR and 360VR.
This type of VR is for 180- and 360-degree rotation. It’s the type of VR that lets you tilt your iPhone to look around. Being able to look around is one way VR makes the experience feel 3D.
Yes, you can use iPhone to watch side-by-side VR videos that look 3D like an IMAX theater effect.
The most well-known iPhone VR headset manufacturer is VR SHINECON in China.
You crack open the goggle part, position your iPhone inside centered evenly, and then snap the goggle part closed and put it on your head.
Seeing things in 3D because you’ve got one picture in your left eye and the other picture in your right eye is the other way VR makes the experience feel 3D.
When you're new to VR and don’t know where to look for VR videos, and you have an iPhone, then go to the Virtual Reality YouTube Channel found at youtube.com/@360.
You'll find a VR video on your iPhone fast. I recommend you start from the Playlists Tab to pick any Playlist you want. But as the name would suggest, most of the videos are 360-degrees rotating, and some are 180-degrees rotating.
They work without a VR headset, just on your regular iPhone screen.
But they don't work when you put them into an iPhone compatible virtual reality headset, because they're not side-by-side format.
Remember, Google owns YouTube and created Cardboard VR. Unlike YouTube, the Google Cardboard app for smartphones is the easiest app for watching Google Cardboard VR on your phone.
If you open the YouTube App, you’ll have to go find VR videos. When you open the Google Cardboard app, the VR videos are available right away - it’s made for VR beginners.
Sometimes you can get results for YouTube's @360, but it’s so few my patience was tested. So I'm writing a few tips especially useful when searching Google and YouTube for Side-by-Side VR videos that'll work with an iPhone and a VR headset.
YouTubers use different terminology when publishing side-by-side VR videos that are good for an iPhone inside a headset.
Some YouTubers use the Google Cardboard logo to indicate side-by-side video format. In my opinion, the logo looks like a Batman mask.
These days, with Google Cardboard technology a relic of VR past, and Side-by-Side Virtual Reality is the most accurate term to describe the type of VR you watch on your phone when it’s inside a headset.
If you have a headset that fits your iPhone inside, then search for side-by-side videos for use with a sideways iPhone VR headset. Good things are worth saying twice.
The toughest part about getting started with a VR headset is getting the right side-by-side video to begin with. I tried about 10 different VR apps for iOS, and only a few actually worked.
The biggest problem with side-by-side video using an iPhone and a VR head gear is lack of quality entertainment. With Meta Quest on the market, people seeking the newest VR tech think side-by-side video is old hat.
I'm certainly late to the side-by-side party, but I believe side-by-side video and a Google Cardboard style binoculars solution still has wide opportunity for adoption by customers who don't care about the latest tech, and just want to have fun with VR for cheap.
I wish it were different, but the honest truth is quality side-by-side VR videos are slim pickings in 2023.
What about YouTube VR App, Netflix VR App in 2023? Or the old Cardboard Camera App and Daydream VR App? Sorry, these aren’t available for iPhone.
High-end VR headsets like Meta and Apple offer 2023’s most advanced and immersive VR experience, way better than smartphone VR headsets with an enclosure to insert your iPhone.
But high-end VR headsets cost hundreds to over one thousand dollars.
The short answer: You should wait until Meta Quest 3 release in late 2023 before you buy an expensive VR headset.
For first-time VR shoppers, It comes down to cost and timing. Meta 3 will undoubtedly be the best available consumer-friendly VR headset so far, but are you willing to wait?
The short answer: That’s what I did, and my family’s enjoying VR, as long as I’m the one who sets it up for them.
While you’re waiting for the next Meta to come out, there are iPhone-compatible VR headsets available of the type “ghetto VR”. You can dish out under $50 to get a cheap VR headset that you slide your iPhone into.
The experience isn’t as good, especially the aspect of convenience.
For the price, for a curious person like me, buying a cheap test VR before investing in a top-of-the-line VR is a decision I’m happy with!
With the VR SHINECON’s 2023 newest VR headset, I’ve given each of my family members (including me) their first-ever VR experience.
Technically yes, but in 2023 it’s hard to find. So don’t count on it.
The practical answer: If you’re planning to buy a VR headset to put your phone inside, you will want to watch side-by-side VR videos (also called SBS or split-screen).
With iPhone alone, watching side-by-side videos looks like two square videos. Side-by-side VR videos only work when you have a headset.
Since a side-by-side video is just a video, you can play it on any iPhone, but there’s no point, since it’s only 3D with viewing inside a VR headset.
For a comfortable and safe VR experience where you can rotate your head around 180 or 360 degrees full circle. You’re already starting to get dizzy reading about it! Here’s a general rule of thumb.
Try 180 when sitting down.
Try 360 when standing up - in a safe place.
For sitting down 180 degrees is more comfortable. You can basically see the full 180 left-right-up-down in front of you. There’s nothing behind you in a 180 degree VR video, so you don’t have to turn around, so it’s good for seniors sitting in a chair or lying in bed.
For standing up, 360 degrees is the all-around-you VR experience, where you can turn your body and head in every direction to see something new.
I’ve only found two apps that have a worthwhile 180° or 360° experience while using a smartphone headset with an iPhone. The only I found that work on my iPhone 12 or the official Google Cardboard App that gets boring.
The only other side-by-side and 360-degree VR experience I’ve tested that works with iPhone 12 is The Wayback App, and Alzheimer’s app from the UK that’s really quite innovative in terms of vision for the wider applications of VR in memory care or aging support.
Several other VR apps on the Apple App Store in 2023 don’t work at all. They spin crazy, crash on open, or serve you advertisements without showing you VR. What a bummer!
Mono has one full screen. Stereo has the screen divided in two.
The Official YouTube Virtual Reality Account (@360) is a perfect example for you to understand what monoscopic VR means. It means there’s just one video on the screen, and it’s VR.
Stereoscopic is the technical term for “when there are two videos showing simultaneously”. In VR for iPhones, the side-by-side VR video with your phone turned sideways and two square videos left-and right the type of stereoscopic VR video that’s compatible with iPhones for use with iPhone-inside VR headsets.
Side-by-side stereoscopic VR video is the type with left and right screens where you have to place your phone with the center lined up pointed downward into the headset and provides the best visual VR experience available on an iPhone in 2023.
I have tested all sizes, shapes, and effects of side-by-side video format with my VR SHINECON headset, and I’m happy to report they all look great in VR after sticking my iPhone inside my VR SHINECON and sticking the VR SHINECON over my eyes.
In practical terms, watching VR on a headset with a smartphone inside is three-dimensional (3D) because you can look all around you, and it feels like you’re in the space.
In technical terms, watching VR on a headset with a smartphone inside is three-dimensional (3D) when the video has a left part and right part, since technically 3D happens when there’s one focal point and two eye balls looking at it - to form a triangle that can perceive space.
Look to Google VR Developers website to learn how exactly VR is considered 3D. I’ll try to summarize for you - it’s called The Degrees of Freedom and most VR achieves either Three or Six degrees of freedom.
Unfortunately, with with an iPhone in 2023 there are very few options to achieve 3DF, and none that I found, which enable 60 ohF.
1. High-end VR Headsets cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, and offer the most immersive experience. The headset and controllers move like your second body.
2. Cheaper Cardboard VR Headsets let you place your phone inside a headset container for a true VR experience. The phone inside the headset detects your head movements, and the controller has limited simple functions like “click”, “move”, “navigate”, and “select”.
3. Regular smartphone screens can play VR videos too. You have to hold up the phone some inches from your face, the same distance as wearing a headset.
4. Regular computer screens can play VR videos too. You have to click and drag your mouse or trackpad, so it’s the least realistic of these four experiences.
