Disney has officially released the 3D trailer to Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) along with a number of 3D photos through a new web-based VR experience. Star Wars fans looking to get the full 3D effect just need a smartphone and Google Cardboard.
WebVR is web technology (under active development) that aims to bring virtual reality experiences straight through the browser—so no app download is required to view the new Star Wars VR Experience. Just pop out that new Star Wars-themed Google Cardboard you got off Ebay, click the link below on your smartphone, and you’re ready to watch the Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D trailer and a collection of 3D photos from your mobile device’s web browser.
The only obvious gripe here is the omnipresent menu that doesn’t seem to fade away. It obscures only a small portion of the right-hand side of the floating screen, but it would be better off anywhere else than between me and J.J. Abrams’ beautiful re-opening of the Star Wars saga. Granted, we’re willing to cut a bit of slack for the newness of this web tech—major desktop VR headsets haven’t even launched yet, and here’s a functional experience delivering 3D video and photos in a VR environment, directly out of a browser.
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There’s no denying that Disney has advertised the ever-living hell out of the new Star Wars film, with virtual reality seeing both a 360-degree video and Cardboard-accessible experiences. But what better way to debut the 3D trailer than on a VR platform that has seen over 1 million official Cardboard viewers from Google shipped to VR fans looking for something with a low barrier to entry? Whatever petty gripes I have, WebVR and soon Mozilla’s A-Frame will be making the web a much friendly place to VR users.
See Also: First Look – ‘Samsung Internet’ Beta is a Full-Featured Web Browser for Gear VR
If you don’t have Google Cardboard yet (there’s some under 10 dollars on Amazon), you can always waste some time in the Star Wars 3D gallery, but you really should have one by now.