Trust me, this blog currently has very low traffic, so no company would want to sponsor me for a promotional article. Therefore, what I want to say is that although I have written two articles in a row about products from the same brand, neither of these articles is sponsored. The reason I bought this brand is purely coincidental. It was only after placing the order that I realized this VR headset is from the same brand as the external hard drive enclosure I bought last time. If you are someone looking to do research before purchasing, please believe that this is a sincere unboxing article from me.
Actually, a long time ago while browsing YouTube, I noticed there was an option to search for 3D videos. After selecting a Google Cardboard icon, the screen would split into left and right sides. However, I never had 3D glasses on hand to try it out, so I never got the chance to experience it. I’ve also been secretly checking out VR glasses on PChome for a while, but never made a purchase because there are too many styles and price ranges, and I really didn’t know what the differences in effect were.
Recently, with the AR Pokémon topic being very popular, it reminded me of VR again, so I went back to researching VR glasses. Generally, big brand VR glasses are very expensive and look bulky (like the HTC Vive). The Google Cardboard design is cool, but I’m worried about its durability and poor storage, so I never dared to buy it. I finally chose the Archgon one because it was very affordable, and the foldable feature really appealed to me, so I finally decided to bring it home.
User Experience
Firstly, regarding the ease of physical operation, I think there are some inconvenient aspects. For example, the VR headset itself is very lightweight, and the head strap is made of a comfortable elastic band. So when you put your phone on it, it’s like a couple who has been together for too long, and you want to say to the glasses, “I think you’ve changed.” The originally lightweight glasses become a bit heavy due to the weight of the phone. If you also plug in earphones and a charging cable, it becomes even heavier, putting pressure on the nose, but the nose doesn’t complain (because the nose doesn’t have a mouth, only the mouth has a mouth). However, it’s still acceptable. There are actually foam pads on it, and you should take a break after playing for too long anyway. With the phone so close to your eyes, I don’t want to go blind just because I’m addicted to the matrix.
Next, since there is only button space on the top of the glasses, different phones will have different placement orientations. For example, my phone is an HTC M8, with the volume buttons on the right side and the headphone jack and charging port at the bottom. So when I’m playing, I have to lay it horizontally to the left, meaning my earphones and charging cable can only be plugged in on the right side. And although there is button space, the frame of the glasses is still thicker compared to the height of the volume buttons, making it difficult to press the volume buttons. My fingers are relatively thin, so I can barely reach them, but I believe many people might not be able to reach their volume buttons. So if your 3D videos often have loud noises that scare you, you should adjust the initial volume yourself, or practice quickly removing the earphones.
I don’t have an iPhone, so I’m not sure about its situation, but for the M8, when you watch videos that require a gyroscope (videos that change perspective as you turn your head), the phone becomes extremely hot. Even if you don’t touch the phone, you can feel its intense heat just from the distance between it and your eyes. But this is actually more related to the phone than the glasses, so it’s not the glasses’ fault, don’t blame them.
There are some Google Cardboard apps available on Google Play, and some virtual reality experiences are pretty cool. But I feel that after watching these things for a while, they lose their impact because you can still clearly feel that it’s a world inside the phone. You’re still sitting at your desk in your room, just pretending to have entered the matrix by sticking the phone to your eyes. However, there are some scary horror videos on YouTube that I find quite effective. These videos, even if you know everything is fake and it’s just your eyes playing tricks, can still scare you half to death with the VR experience and sound, giving you goosebumps all over.
In conclusion, I think it’s okay to treat it as a toy to play with. If you’re someone who often likes to find things to scare yourself and make yourself uncomfortable (there’s actually a theory in psychology about this: the optimal level of arousal theory, and my college project was based on this topic), this thing is quite suitable for you. Plus, it’s not expensive; you can afford it by skipping lunch for a week (don’t do that).
Perhaps in the future, it could have more diverse applications, and I look forward to its development.