Google Cardboard, the poor man's VR headset, now lets you explore the world in VR using the Google Street View app.
The feature was previously hidden within the Google Maps app and difficult to access. With the Street View app for iOS or Android, walking through the streets of Paris, Tokyo or virtually any location is just a button press away.
I downloaded the Street View app for iPhone, took it for a trip around the world and it wasn't a bad experience.
To transport yourself to a destination, simply type the place into the search bar and wait for Street View locations to populate. Once you've picked a place, hit the little VR headset/Cardboard icon in the top right corner, pop your phone into your Cardboard viewer and, voilà, you're now somewhere else.
Not all Google Cardboard viewers are equal. I learned that on my first try when I used a generic Google Cardboard that didn't come with a button or a switch on the side. You'll want to use the official Google Cardboard, the Mattel View-Master or a Zeiss VR One GX (to name a few) in order to navigate down the Street View maps. Otherwise, you'll only be able to look around 360 degrees, but not move.
This being Cardboard, the VR experience is not going to compare with anything you get on headsets like the Oculus Rift or PlayStation VR, but I found it sufficient in immersing you in another city.
Mashable Business Editor Heidi Moore also marveled at being able to stand outside Paris's Hôtel de Ville (its city hall). Similarly, I was intensely engrossed with taking in Hong Kong's densely populated neighborhoods, a destination I plan to hit up later this year.
The Street View app also lets you take your own spherical videos and publish them to the app for others to experience in VR. I tried this out as well, taking a spherical video of my desk area with my iPhone's camera. And while the results aren't perfect (there's a lot of visible stitching and overlap), it's kind of neat.
Since I was using my iPhone's camera, the results weren't seamless. But if you own a Ricoh Theta S, or any other spherical camera listed on Google's website, or if you know how to use a DSLR to make a spherical video, your results should look better.