It turned out that Google US has discontinued the sale of its VR headset “Cardboard” at the Google Store.
Cardboard VR is a VR headset that combines a lens with a cardboard frame, and it is possible to display VR content by inserting a smartphone. The feature is that it can be purchased at a low price of 15 dollars, and the main body design is open sourced as “Cardboard Manufacturer Kit”, so anyone can make compatible goggles.
On the other hand, Google is trying to shift from the VR business to the AR business, and in 2019, the sale of the full-scale VR headset “Daydream View” using plastic and fabric materials was discontinued. Meanwhile, Cardboard’s software-related technology was opened in the same year.
And in October 2020, support for the VR platform “Daydream VR” will end on Android 11 or later OS. And in February of this year, the Daydream VR app store was shut down. In such a trend, it can be said that the end of sales of Cardboard was in a sense a planned harmony.
You can still purchase compatible goggles from Google’s Cardboard related page. Also, as mentioned earlier, Cardboard’s software platform is open, so Cardboard is likely to continue to play its role as an inexpensive VR platform.