Earlier this year, Google launched Google Cardboard, a virtual reality (VR) platform for use with a head mount for a smartphone. The platform is intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR applications.

Google patented the design of Google Cardboard. They have also released instructions allowing users to either build their own viewer from simple, low-cost components using specifications published by Google, or purchase a pre-manufactured one. Through January 2016, over 5 million Cardboard viewers had shipped and over 1,000 compatible applications had been published. Following the success of the Cardboard platform, Google announced an enhanced VR platform, Daydream, at Google I/O 2016.

In instructional settings, such as school classrooms, educational and informative materials can often fail to fully engage the attention of students and/or audience participants. Google plans to change education for ever using virtual reality. Google believes that virtual reality, in conjunction with conventional educational and informative materials, can provide an immersive educational experience that more readily engages students.

Google is working on some cool apps to present VR content to students in classrooms A recent patent from Google disclosed Google’s VR expeditions application. The teachers and students will use VR hardware to take VR field trips (which Google refers to as VR expeditions) to places in the world (or even out of the world) that are not practically accessible via traditional field trips.

For example, using the patented technology, teachers and students can take media-rich, immersive VR expeditions, in a classroom setting, to coral reefs around the world, outer space, the seven world wonders, museums around the world, and so forth.

Content (e.g., visual content) for VR expeditions can be obtained from any number of available sources, such as existing image and/or video collections (e.g., Internet-based collections, private collections, etc.) by partnering with owners and custodians of such content. 

The technology can also be used as professional presentations, tradeshow presentations, conference presentations and so forth.

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