First impression: Fri advanced games on your Android with VRidge

This is the year that highlight the expensive virtual reality glasses from HTC, Oculus and PlayStation. The sophisticated games that are made for that you can now play with an Android device and Cardboard.

VRidge

It does not take long before the first Oculus Rift glasses are sent to consumers. HTC does not follow much later with the HTC Vive. These expensive glasses are interesting, but we are convinced that virtual reality for Android at the moment is more important. Fri for smartphones is cheap and accessible about experiences outside the gaming industry. Yet the advanced games that are a tad envious created for the expensive glasses. Fortunately working creative people a way to play these games without an expensive glasses, but just with your Android device and a cardboard glasses. In fact, it has been working..

Virtual reality

Although there are now many companies are working on virtual reality glasses, the 2016 is still clearly to the three major players: HTC, Oculus and PlayStation. Oculus is the first turn with glasses of no less than 699 euros, while the HTC Vive has a price tag of 899 euros. Only in October, Sony with the PlayStation VR for 399 euros, which must be connected to the game console PlayStation 4 and where players also have to purchase an additional camera.

That is a lot of money. In addition to these spectacles players for the Rift and Vive also have to have a big PC are to play the games that are made for the glasses. It also falls in terms of game selection so on, it does not seem worth the purchase. Therefore, it is really at the moment the lovers who are already pulling the purse to be completely absorbed in virtual reality. They want to hours, days or longer disappearance of the world. That's not true virtual reality is designed for smart phones, because that is the key short experiences.

How it works

Yet it is interesting to look at games for example, Oculus, which are especially a lot better than what we see now on Cardboard. For that much money to count down is not for everyone, however the company is now RiftCat with VRidge. The accessory uses your Android device with a Google Cardboard to play games from the Oculus store. How do they get that?

The idea is that the games be played back on your PC, so in order to make use VRidge you do need a decent computer. The image is then sent to the screen of your Android phone, which is divided into two parts so you can see the virtual worlds in 3D Cardboard.

Then you can just move your head and look around the game as you would in 360 degree videos. Games can control with a keyboard or a gamepad connected to your PC. Although there are other solutions that image and translate movements, VRidge goes a step further by Oculus emulate completely. This makes think the games that they really are connected to an Oculus Rift.

Trial with potential

VRidge is now in beta and it is good to note, because there is still a lot wrong. connect your phone to your PC via WiFi, but it quickly leads to delay and artifacts in image while moving your head. Since last Thursday, it is also possible to connect via USB, but in our tests this connection was constantly away.

We have VRidge tested with two different smartphones and a powerful PC. Yet it is possible that just these two devices do not work ideally, that the wifi connection was not strong enough or that the PC is not performed optimally. RiftCat sends every Thursday an update to VRidge out, which gives hope for the future.

On the occasions when VRidge works, it really works. These bouts were to expensive virtual reality on our cardboard glasses for now enough. We have tasted the bigger worlds and more possibilities and now we look forward to how RiftCat will develop the system. At least Android provides VRidge with a way to test VR for passing on buying an expensive glasses. You can VRidge yourself by trying the app in the Play Store to download and you're on the site Riftcat to register for the beta.