It’s no secret that virtual reality is currently the ‘in thing’. Multiple manufacturers are keen to get in on the action and the number of virtual reality related reports now coming through seem to be arriving on an almost daily basis, if not multiple times a day. Not to mention, Google also seems keen to ramp up their own virtual reality ambitions going forward, even recently creating a new VR division. Well, one way in which they could be planning on pushing forward with their virtual reality offerings, is with the introduction of Cardboard++.
Last month, during CES, Google and Lenovo teamed up to announce they were partnering in the next stage of Project Tango. This partnership was said to be looking to bring to market a Project Tango smartphone for consumers. In terms of how this relates to Cardboard, the current suggestion is that Cardboard++ is some form of collaboration between Google’s virtual reality department and also their Project Tango department. In terms of the source of the rumors, Googler, Isaac Taylor, has been spotted listing on his LinkedIn profile (source link below) that since January of this year, he has begun working with the AR & VR teams at Google. Specifically, with Project Tango and Cardboard++.
What is now adding further weight and making the rumors a little more interesting, is that reports are emerging that back at Google’s I/O last year, someone was spotted wearing a virtual reality headset, which instead of housing a smartphone, was housing one of Project Tango’s tablets. An image which even back in June of 2015 was posted to social media, again sporting the “Cardboard++” tagline. Of course, at the moment, there is no confirmation that this is going to be the forward position of Cardboard or even if Cardboard++ will be the eventual name. This could simply be a name being used internally for now and could be something that never makes it to market or as a consumer product. Either way though, until any further confirmation comes through, Cardboard++ could very well be one of the next steps in Google’s virtual (and augmented) reality ambitions.