Google’s Street View mapping service is being launched as a virtual reality app, which will allow users to see the map in 3D through a low cost cardboard headset.

The Street View virtual reality app is available on both iOS and Android and, according to Google software engineer Brandon Wuest, it is aimed at "bring the world just a little bit closer to everyone."

The £10 Google Cardboard is a virtual reality headset, released in 2014, featuring a sheet of cardboard, a pair of lenses and a band.

Wuest said: "This update includes a major overhaul of the sensor fusion algorithms that integrate the signals from the gyroscope and accelerometer.

"These improvements substantially decrease drift, especially on phones with lower-quality sensors."

Google also released the Cardboard SDK for Android , which allowed developers to build apps that display 3D scenes with binocular rendering, track and react to head movements, and interact with apps through magnet input.

Google also joined forces with toy maker Mattel in February to integrate its virtual reality cardboard technology into the company’s View-Master stereoscope.

The collaboration allowed users to take virtual "field trips" and explore famous places, landmarks, nature, planets in 360 degree "photospheres".