Google unwraps Cardboard Camera app for making 3D panoramas

PanARMENIAN.Net - Google announced Thursday, December 3, a new Android app that lets people make panoramas with smartphone cameras, VentureBeat reports.

These panoramas can then be viewed in 3D and 360 degrees with the Google Cardboard virtual reality headset, using the new Cardboard Camera app. Plus, the app records the audio around you as you make these panoramas.

All users have to do is hold their phone straight in front of them, hit the record button, and slowly turn all the way around, allowing the Android phone’s camera to capture the entire scene.

In Cardboard mode, you can look at the specific panorama you want to view and then use the button to select it. Then you can hear and see what you recorded. But it could become much cooler when you can show it to other people who aren’t there with you and your phone and your Cardboard.

“We’re working on a great sharing feature, and it’s going to come out pretty soon,” Google product manager Mike Podwal told VentureBeat in an interview.

This is a free app, in contrast to fancy and expensive multi-shutter camera rigs from GoPro and Nokia. The audio isn’t directional — it’s just a basic recording of what’s happening. At least for now, Google isn’t tracking what people are recording and looking at in the app, as all data stays on your phone by default.