Why trust GreenbotI don’t know if it’s because I’m deliriously tired or the fact that I don’t have the same stamina I used to. But I could not physically hle Expeditions, a Cardboard app that’s designed to take kids on a virtual-reality field trip to faraway places.
ok inside my Cardboard.
That doesn’t mean Expeditions wasn’t cool, though. I took part in the virtual adventure at the Cardboard booth on the I/O show floor. Scott Maxwell, formerly of NASA, author of the Mars Me blog, now an engineer at , lead the tour of Mars.
were each equipped with Bluetooth-enabled headphones Cardboard for the 20-minute demonstration. Maxwell narrated the tour through the headphones controlled each of our Cardboards from a Nexus 9 tablet via what appeared to be the otospheres application.
This is Mars through Cardboard. Sort of.
The Expedition really isn’t much—it’s a 360-degree photo tour of Mars, it’s hardly as immersive as the HTC Vive demonstration that I had back at Mobile rld Congress. I couldn’t interact with the tour or deviate from it. In fact, any time I tried to move away from the narrative, an arrow would guide me back to where I was supposed to be staring.
Scott Maxwell was a great tour guide.
l of the tour’s spinning eventually got to me. My eyes began to squint. My arm hurt from holding up Cardboard for too long. The unit itself—which had a Nexus 5 stuffed into it–actually got a bit warm over time. I had to take a breather before I could go on.
Then I thought, “Is this what kids really want? To stare inside a box spin around in a chair?” I don’t hang out with too many kids, but I do know that they’re hyper full of imagination. Cardboard, bundled with Expeditions, might help take them further in their fantasies. I mean, I just went to Mars stared straight at the Columbia Hills. My cynical adult brain was blown away by the fact that it looked just like Nevada. Imagine what a kid would think—how she could take the experience further. Maybe it would inspire her to become an astrophysicist?
e to breathe. I might barf.
It’s unclear how plans to distribute the Expeditions kits, but I certainly hope they’re affordable for all teachers who want them in their classrooms. Cardboard Expeditions should never replace actual field trips, mind you, but I think they can be useful when a field trip just isn’t possible.
In an 8th grade classroom, for example, a discussion on American government could lead to a virtual tour of the U.S. Capital, where laws bills are passed. Maybe that could inspire a kid to become a politician, try his h at saving the world.
Sure, that’s an optimistic extrapolation. But I’m just glad that this time around, technology aimed at kids isn’t another video game, but rather something that can actually share knowledge of the world to those who can’t afford to leave theirs.
