During Google I/O this year, one of the biggest hits actually came by way of an inexpensive cardboard shell. Like when you buy a kid an expensive toy and they’d rather play with the packaging…
Google Cardboard is designed for developers to start inexpensively developing apps for 3D and VR. A cardboard shell sets up like an old Viewmaster toy, and it uses your phone screen as the display. It might look a bit silly, but what was demonstrated at I/O was actually quite sophisticated, with magnets for orientation and NFC tags inside to launch the special split-screen mode for your phone.
Now you can also buy a pre-cut kit from a company called Smart Exhibits on Amazon. If you don’t want to bother with all that cardboard slicing, they have you covered for $10. Though you’ll have to supply your own magnets, lenses, and NFC tags…