Google teams up with Disney to launch a Star Wars virtual reality experience for Google's Cardboard headset. The virtual reality experience will launch on December 2 as part of celebrations of Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Force Awakens which will be available on cinemas on December 17.
The new Star War's virtual reality experience is developed along with Google and Verizon, according to Star War's official website. This program will be the first Google Cardboard virtual reality experience which ties directly into the opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The virtual reality experience will live in the official Star Wars app and will be available for iPhones and Google's Android devices.
Star Wars virtual reality content in Google Cardboard is developed by ILMxLAB, a laboratory for immersive entertainment from Lucas Film, Industrial Light&Magic, and Skywalker Sound.
According to CNet, virtual reality has the potential to impress consumers and is increasingly being used by marketers. However, consumers will have a limited chance to enjoy virtually on a daily basis as some of the VR devices still have limitations on their availabilities.
For example, Gear VR headset from Facebook's Oculus VR division only works with certain Samsung smartphones.
Google Cardboard offers the low-cost virtual reality platform although it doesn't offer the same level of interactivity as its rival. Its cross-promotional with The Force Awakens which is expected to be the highest grossing film of 2015 could get people hooked on VR before most of the major.
Google will also release four custom editions of Google Cardboard headset printed with popular Star Wars images. The special editions of the Cardboard will be available exclusively on Verizon store on December 2.
As part of its collaboration with Disney and Verizon, Google also launches a mini site "Awakens the Force Within" which lets users choose between the light and the dark side and get Star Wars themed versions of Google apps and services.
According to Wired, when the users signed up onto the site, they will get a customized image skin for their Google profile photo and the opportunity to share their decision to social media.
The feature can only be applied to personal Google accounts. The users need to fully associate their devices to Google account to get a fully customized Google apps.
The special Star Wars theme experience works for Android Wear Watches, Google Calendar, Chrome, Chromecast, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Now, Waze, YouTube, Google Translate, and Google Search across a wide range of mobile and desktop platforms.
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