Brian May is many things: Lead guitarist of Queen, lover of badgers and astrophysicist. Now, add VR guru to the list — because he’s just announced his very own version of Google Cardboard.
Pocket Lint reports that his new piece of red plastic — known as the Owl Stereoscope — gives credit to the Victorian scientists who first dabbled with 3D vision over a century ago. The new polypropylene device is actually an update to a device that’s existed since 2008, but that one used static cards that the viewer could peer at through a pair of lenses.
Now, though, it’s all been updated with smartphones. The new version of the Owl Stereoscope unfolds to place a pair of lenses at one end and a magnetic panel at the other. A magnetic strip attaches to your phone, allowing the device to hold it in place. Bingo: Victorian-inspired VR!
There are two main differences between this and Cardboard, apart form the, err, plastic. First, it has adjustable focus, which you can make use of by simply sliding the panel holding the phone back and forth — handy if your eyes don’t quite match up with the device. Second, the whole system is open, as Ars Technica points out. That means you can interact with your phone whilst using it as a VR viewer, but does means that it’s rather less immersive, as you see ambient light too.