This app was mentioned in 65 comments, with an average of 2.22 upvotes
VRTV does this and it's a pretty good app too
Netflix doesn't work though because of their over-protective DRM. That also means you can't play Netflix shows on any other third-party player so don't bother looking. You'll have to download your content elsewhere and play the mp4 files.
Try VRTV and select "Sphere360" for the Screen type and "3D Over/Under" as the Video Type (or the equivalent settings in whatever VR media player you're using).
Try this, even if doesn't make sense to you.
Yes, I have a Daydream View headset and it works fine. Get the app VRTV from the Play Store.
The app won't appear in the Daydream menu right now, because Google is curating the Daydream store for the next month or two. You'll have to turn off NFC (so that Daydream doesn't launch), open the video in VRTV, and then put your phone in the headset. There's also no controller support yet, but the VRTV dev is working on that right now.
TL;DR: It works, slightly janky at the moment but will improve soon.
"Convert" them? Why would you have to convert them? Just use a VR video player, like VRTV or whatever your favorite one is, and play normal video.
VRTV supports images as well as videos. The full version has a file browser in VR, and buttons to go to the next/previous image or video in the same directory.
Disclaimer: I'm the developer of the app, so I hope you don't mind me promoting it.
The 6P supports reprojection and screen strobing in cardboard apps, but the only app I've found that actually utilizes them properly is VRTV.
You can also change the screen strobing setting in Settings -> Display -> When device is in VR
My video player lets two users watch the same movie in sync with each other, if that counts. On the play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
For generic cases I think multiplayer would have to be built in the app, screen streaming is cool but I don't see it ever working with individual head tracking.
There is an example of that feature "in the wild" for an Android VR player. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free . He's had that feature for a while but don't think it's been a big deal users. I could be wrong. I haven't used that app and talked to him in years.
I think the tech that allows synchronized play and mutiparty chat is a good thing to have but I don't see it being a big sell in and of itself.
I think if there were some form of SLR organized watch parties with one of the talent during release day or something would get folks attention though. (And I have another idea. Will message you)
You could insert sneak peak trailers etc in a one time special version of the stream.
The tech is a good enabler but I think you'll need to seed it's use.
I've never heard of someone getting great results from that. Basically, nowhere near as good.
There are some video players that work with just an accelerometer — VRTV Free and Var's VR player also IIRC. Aside from that, probably just making sure your next phone has a gyro / supports Daydream / get an Oculus Go / start saving for Oculus Quest are your best options.
If you have a gaming PC, you can also try to get games that run in stereo (or can be modded to do so) running with TrinusVR. I had fun using Dolphin (GameCube emulator) that way.
Some gyros can be calibrated, but that depends on the phone and I wouldn't know about Mi.
What I can suggest, since what you're doing is watching video, is to use VRTV and try each of its tracking options, as it has a few. Make sure also your headset contains no magnets, as the magnetometer may be used to augment the gyroscope (mainly, in fact, to reduce drift) in some modes.
I quite like Fulldive as a general application that covers a lot of aspects of what one might want to do with Cardboard, but I don't think its video playing functionality is top-notch enough for playing full movies; there are some small but real annoyances.
As a standalone video player, I like VRTV, but it has to be said that most VR players offer the sort of controls the OP is after.
There are several with similar features, but I like VRTV due to its unique syncing feature and due to generally being well-made and having all I can think of wanting, lots of useful configuration options, and the free version is perfectly usable too.
Not sure if this counts, but my video player app has a feature where you can watch a movie and have it synced up with a friend. The interface is a bit clunky at the moment I'm afraid, but it works. I have some ideas how to make it more accessible, all that's missing is time to implement it :)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
I think most VR players in the Play store can open a URL. Mine can if you'd like to try it out:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
You can lock the screen in front of you if you don't like to move around.
I'm really happy with VRTV - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free - I'm not a dev. It lacks centering the screen (you need to tap the screen) but it works very smooth and several options to display video.
I tried Cmoar and I'm disappointed. It works rather bad on my Note 3.
I was one of the first to download the app and have been asking for this feature for what seems like forever. I thought maybe it's just super difficult and that's why they haven't addressed it yet, but this other app makes it seem pretty easy actually (but unfortunately doesn't provide the mood setting theater around you or other features) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
Don't know if the answer is related or not but TBH you can download YouTube videos anywhere you want on the internet. It’s just how you play the video that matters. Anyhow after doing some finding I found out an android video player called <strong>VRTV VR Video Player Free by Chai Software</strong> that can do the trick. You just need to make sure you select the right settings for it as shown in the screenshot <strong>here</strong>.
Note: I’ve actually tried 4k videos on this player and it kinda dropped frame aka struggle to play it, anyhow upto 1080p video works just fine though.
Don't know if the answer is related or not but TBH you can download YouTube videos anywhere you want on the internet. It’s just how you play the video that matters. After doing some finding I found out an android video player called <strong>VRTV VR Video Player Free by Chai Software</strong> that can do the trick. You just need to make sure you select the right settings for it as shown in the screenshot <strong>here</strong>.
Note: I’ve actually also tried 4k videos on this player and it kinda dropped frame aka struggle to play it, anyhow upto 1080p video works just fine though.
bobo vr z5 (like 20 bucks on amazon) + android smartphone + vrtv app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free&hl=it
I've also been using VRTV Player to play local media and Plex content. The only downside is that it is built for Cardboard and doesn't use the controller. You need to "look" at controls to use them.
I'm really not sure what you mean by "split image" and what the problem is. 3D videos are most often distributed in side-by-side format, but there is also top-bottom format, and natively stereoscopic formats. VRTV supports most arrangements and it's my favorite video playing app, but you do have to use the setting to manually change the format if it's not SBS. FullDive is good for YouTube videos, but same there when it comes to random videos.
Since everyone is giving their favorites, mine is VRTV. Like others that have been mentioned, it does use accelerometers, but also like most other competent video playing apps, it does have an option to lock tracking and just show the video right in front of your eyes.
The standard YouTube app limits video playback to max out at screen resolution, which is bad for spherical video. Not sure about the YouTube VR app for Daydream, but they've mentioned downloaded videos as a feature for YouTube Red.
A lot of phones can't decode much more than their screen resolutions, though. It'd be tricky for an app to determine what the cutoff is. Earlier iPhones all top out at 1080p decode because the screen resolution is lower than that anyway. 4K video decode is only possible for recent flagships.
As far as workarounds go, you generally need to download a higher-quality version than the YT app will give you and use a playback app like VRTV on Android or Mobile VR Station on iOS. Figuring out the highest supported resolution is up to you.
Could you just disable NFC and use a Cardboard movie player like VRTV? With the Daydream store being 'curated' until next year, a Cardboard player might be your best bet.
I've released a new beta version of VRTV 3.1 with non-gyro head trackers enabled now. If you try it out I'd be very interested in hearing how it compares!
Join the beta in the Play Store or check /r/chaisoftware for the release notes and links!
If I'm understanding you correctly, then there's only one app I've come across which utilizes this, and it's VRTV Video Player. You can visually tell the difference in two ways:
Low motion blur mode activates, which strobes the screen similarly to a CRT.
Asynchronous reprojection is/must be enabled. It's enabled by default in the settings.
There's a player called VRTV that supports streaming but I don't know enough about the app or video streaming to know if it has what you want.
I'm running a beta of a new version of my VR Video player VRTV over in r/GoogleCardboard and figured it wouldn't hurt to post here as well.
VRTV is a video player. It started its life as a player for Google Cardboard, supporting 2D/3D and 180/360 videos and images, but with this latest beta it aims to be able to replace your current video player with support for a regular player UI as well.
I recommend joining the beta if you want to try it out, since it adds a libVLC backend to support more video formats, and of course the "regular" video player.
Note: Like MX Player, I've played it safe and I don't distribute patented codecs like AC3/DTS through the Play Store. If you want AC3/DTS support you need to ask VRTV to load a new libvlcjni.so library built with AC3/DTS support. Currently the only way to obtain that library is to build your own from the source, but I'm looking into if it would be possible for me to supply a pre-built version from outside of the Play Store since I live in a country that doesn't recognize software patents.
I appreciate all and any feedback you might have about the app!
uhm, default? I don't see any encoder settings anywhere, not sure why you'd need an encoder in a viewer?
I'm thinking we're not on the same page here... VRTV right?
You don't need to convert anything, you can use completely standard .srt subtitles with various players. One I really don't mind that supports subtitles fine is VRTV. I believe it was written by a redditor.
I think most of the cinema apps do this. just went through a handful on the play store and many of them support 3d video and have a cinema setting.
My personal favorite movie watching app for cardboard is call VRTV Free Just tested it with a 3d movie for the first time and man oh man is that awesome.
i really like vrtv https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free its still new and the VR environment is not that great but its updated regularly and the developer responds to bug reports
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Is it a MediaTek device? I think they have problems with the distortion, but that can easily be disabled.
Once I finally get a new version out I'll add an option to disable it in the client, but if you want to try building yourself you can just add this line in DisplayActivity::onSurfaceCreated():
getCardboardView().setDistortionCorrectionEnabled(false);
Edit: If you want to verify that it would work you can try it in my video player app VRTV first, it has an option to disable distortion in the settings.
I've tried a few vr players and a lot of them are lacking or inconsistent, most suffer from in correctable drift or poor performance
I'm quite fond of this vr player
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
you can watch standard movies on it as if there's a cinema screen projected in front of you, adjustable settings (distance between lenses, distance between lenses and screen etc) with a few different screen projection settings (flat, dome, sphere) including fish eye compensation
for my self it suffers from very minor drift, as with most apps, it's not really noticeable though compared to others but it does occur. Thankfully, you can use the magnetic switch to re center the view which is imo it's most useful feature, something most players lack. i also found putting the phone down flat for about 10-20 seconds once i've centred my view seems to reduce drift significantly once it's enabled
the free version has ads but not during watching or anything, very minor inconvenience (banner ads at the bottom in app, pop up ads when returning to menu but you can back out of them including the timed ones) but so far it's my favorite player out of the bunch i've tried including one I paid five dollars for. It's quite decent, not perfect but i'd argue for standard watching it's above par, video performance never seems to suffer significantly (some players i've tried have terrible performance especially while moving your head)
i still want to find a player that doesn't utilize head tracking so I can just lay back and watch a movie at night without worrying about drift, but this one is the closest i've found to an immersive cinema experience without things like a 3D environment killing the overall performance
A bit late answer here, but since this post was what made me implement it in the first place I thought I'd write a reply:
I've made a Video Player for Cardboard, and the latest version has a sync feature. You open the same video (or stream) on two phones, enable sync on both and press play on one of them. The second phone will start playing in sync. On a typical WIFI it keeps within 50ms during an entire movie.
Here's the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
This is the first version, so there are a lot of improvements I want to make, especially when it comes to usability.
Yes. There is no technical difference between animation movies and other movies. You can use any VR player supporting 3D stereo, which includes
If the movie doesn't play as stereo 3D automatically, you may have to use the player's settings to configure the format the movie is in; most videos are going to use side-by-side (SBS) stereo.
Hmm, I don't think so... Daydream Photos only shows panoramic content, no videos or 2D images.
/u/ruinah Try VRTV Free... it's a Cardboard app so you browse your phone storage for videos (including 2D), confirm a few settings, then hit play and pop it in your headset to watch in a virtual home theater with a hover-to-click interface.
There are plenty of VR media players that can play all the common VR formats (VRTV for example).
Try VRTV https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
It works quite well, and it allows you to freely re-centre the screen, so it can be used lying down
Uuuuuh... how does that possibly work with no lenses? If the phone is too close to your eyes, you won't be able to focus on it, and if it's a bit further away, it'll still be a huge strain on your eyes.
But yes, a Cardboard viewer will suit you; however, if your goal is watching movies, you should prioritize getting a viewer that is particularly comfortable, because it gets very tiresome to wear most viewers for more than half an hour or so. The BoboVR Z4 / VR Boss is often recommended here but it's not the lightest of viewers, so you might go for a lighter one perhaps (but if you have no good headphones for movies, this is the only headset with them built-in, and they're not so bad at all); one of my friends has a Ritech Riem III (there is a newer Plus version that is probably better), which isn't ideal for immersive VR because of a modest FOV, but he's quite happy with it for movies, as it's light, comfortable, fits glasses and has adjustable lenses. Another possibility is the FiitVR 2S (it lacks a touch button unlike the previous ones, but the one linked comes with a Bluetooth controller anyway). If you prefer to shell out very little money to get a feel for what it's like with reasonably good optics and FOV, get a U Noton, but don't expect it to be any comfortable for movies.
(Disclosure: the links come with a referral.)
As a VR movie viewer, I strongly recommend VRTV, which has all the features I could think about wanting in a nice interface, and even allow viewing in sync with friends. For YouTube, you can of course just use the standard YouTube app, but I suggest you also try out FullDive, which comes with a swath of other features as well as a YouTube player with a selection of stereoscopic and 360° videos for VR.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free Use this. This is the best player there is afaik.
Hi, this app works fine and has fine settings opgions https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
What's flaky about the offline options? VRTV or Fulldive VR should do the job, among other options.
I mention Fulldive in particular because it natively supports Youku, which is roughly a Chinese YouTube equivalent, at least originally, just to show that Cardboard can be and definitely is used in China (after all, most Cardboard viewer made are Chinese, and have a market in China).
Personally, I think the VRTV app is the best one out there. I miss it on GearVR.
VRTV can show pictures as well as videos. The paid version supports SMB/UPNP as well.
My general favorite is VRTV, and I think it ticks all your boxes.
use a dlna app like bubbleupnp then have it play the files with your favorite vr player, I prefer VRTV personally
Yep! VRTV supports that, haven't tried it myself though.
im using VRTV and i really like it https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
>I'm a big fan of VRTV.
Thanks
I'm a big fan of VRTV.
There is this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
Could try plugging your Air into a phone or other Android device and try that VR video player?
Games will make you puke (good for the liver, once in a while). For videos I use VRTV https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
I just did a search for "VR media player"?
Here's an example:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.chai.vrtv.free
Two disclaimers to the whole post: first, I haven't used this stuff in some years and my advice may be outdated. Second, if your health issue is in any way related to balance/equilibrium, I would strongly recommend against playing around with VR without medical approval, even if you're just lying down.
You can do that, there are multiple apps that give you a "virtual screen" for videos, but you do need to play the video in the appropriate software that generates a virtual screen: if you just play them normally it will just be a giant static thing in front of you with no proper coverage for both eyes and parts cropped out, and looking absolutely the wrong distance to your eyes making you go cross-eyed.
The Pixel 4a supported Daydream originally, so while Daydream is discontinued now (the Daydream app still works though it's been sort of nerfed, but download and run it before buying a headset to make sure your phone is still considered supported), a Daydream headset may still be a good choice if you find a... uh... not-too-used one for cheap. I have one, it's a simple but quality headset, the lenses are fresnel so ideal for many things as they give you a wide field of view, though arguably perhaps not ideal for movies in particular as they do make stuff more pixelated in the process (makes sense, if it's bigger in front of you, the pixels look bigger too). Still, a pretty good, comfortable choice. It's made of a fabric-like material, so keep that in mind when buying used, I believe the part that comes in contact with your skin is meant to be washable... or just skip to the next option if that seems icky. Also, try to buy the v2, not the v1, it's just better.
It comes with a USB-C controller that is also good, so if you don't buy the Daydream, also consider you will have to buy a simple Bluetooth controller to control the phone in VR mode without wanting to scream at it. I don't really have a recommendation for a controller because the cheap ones I've had weren't great and I'm reasonably sure they're not even being produced anymore. You may just want to buy a used Daydream controller anyway even if you aren't going to use the headset, again if you find it cheap.
Using Daydream also gives you access to Youtube VR, which may be the only way to view YouTube in VR now since the Cardboard app I used for that, FullDive VR, doesn't seem to start anymore (warns about my network connection, probably wants to connect to a server that is no longer there). YouTube VR should be good for your use case because it lets you move the screen around including "to the ceiling", as this may be a problem with some other apps that expect you to be looking straight ahead.
Otherwise, my hardware recommendations would be the ones in my flair, again with the caveat that I've not played with this stuff for quite a while so they may be outdated: the BoboVR Z4 comes with pretty decent headphones as part of the headset, at least decent for my low standards but I would use them to listen to a movie, but if you don't want them I believe there was also a version without. The subreddit's wiki should have information about the various other brandings it is/was sold under aside from "BoboVR Z4". The Mojing S1 was a lightweight choice in some ways similar to the Daydream (the nose room is limited, which is known to be a problem with many of the Chinese headsets), but you should make sure your phone fits in it, as it's quite small, and the thermal factor may be a problem.
And here we do come to the thermal factor: VR makes phones hot, and phones being locked inside a headset doesn't help with that at all. So while I cannot give specifics about the Pixel 4a, you may have to factor in having to pause every 20 minutes or whatever to let the phone cool down, and being hot won't do the battery a favor either. With Daydream, it tells you automatically when your phone is too hot and you just have to remove it from the headset until it's cooled down.
I'd call the BoboVR better for movies in general than the Mojing S1, especially because you can adjust the focus to make the movie as sharp as possible, which you can't with fresnel lens headsets... but when lying down, the BoboVR is really kinda heavy. The internet tells me it weighs 410 grams, while my Daydream headset is 268 grams, and the Mojing S1 should be 220 grams. There's probably more recent BoboVR stuff than the Z4, but the <em>current</em> BoboVR stuff seems to all be about the Oculus Quest, not phone-based headsets. The VR Kommando YouTube channel used to make a lot of detailed reviews of all the various headsets in circulation back when Cardboard was bigger, so maybe have a look at his older videos. I see a BoboVR Z6 there for one thing.
Finally the software, apart from YouTube: the choice seems relatively limited because you need a specific feature that not all of the apps have, namely the ability to use it while lying down, and because some apps I used no longer run (Skybox was pretty good, now I don't even see it in Play Store anymore, and it doesn't start for me anymore). Some of the apps assume you'll be looking straight ahead, and that's simply where the virtual screen will be located. With other apps, you can define your own "horizon". VRTV comes in an ad-supported and a paid version, can be used both in Cardboard and Daydream mode, and some googling of... myself... shows I gave it as a recommendation for something similar to your use case before.
If this all seems daunting, well I guess it is a bit, and maybe it will be easier to just go with the suggestion to hang the phone over your head in some way. But I am also just verbose, and, on the other hand, a VR headset is going to be pretty cheap (say €20-30 for the headset plus €5 for a crappy controller from China or maybe another €20 for a Daydream controller), although the market is probably not as flooded with them as it was back when I was actively following, and if you ask me, it's decently fun, although some people think it's not worth doing VR with a phone.
When I tried watching a movie, it was tiresome eventually, but it was also an interesting immersive experience compared to just watching it on the phone screen. It will be a lot more pixelated than a movie theater, though (but that's more or less what it's meant to feel like)! Even with high-resolution phone screens, the headset will be magnifying it to the point where you can see the pixels in a 1080p image. It's still displaying whatever it would display on your phone, except arguably halved in resolution because it's one image per eye. It's hard to convey how this looks visually without trying. My two cents is it's worth trying, generally speaking; for your particular situation, where most of VR apps and games will actually not be usable as they're not made to be used while lying down and you'll be limited to movies and YouTube, you'll have to make the judgment.
VRTV is my go to
I don't know, I prefer to use VRTV. They might be too high-resolution for your phone to handle, I suppose.
There are a bunch of "VR cinema" apps on the store. I personally used this one
I use VRTV I know for a fact it can lock the screen position
For local videos and movies, I rather like VRTV.