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Kickstart this: AirVR straps an iPad mini or iPhone 6+ to your face for virtual reality

A Retina display right next to your retinas

Kickstart this: AirVR straps an iPad mini or iPhone 6+ to your face for virtual reality
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iOS

Canadian design studio Metatecture has taken to Kickstarter with a headset that uses an iPad mini or iPhone 6+ as the display - and brains - of a virtual reality system.

The AirVR works much like the Durovis Dive or Google's Cardboard, by strapping a smartphone or tablet directly to your eyeballs by way of a couple of lenses.

The screen is then split in two to deliver a stereoscopic 3D view, while the device's motion sensing abilities take care of the head tracking functions that plunge you into the exciting world of an alternative reality.

"Getting started with AirVR is quick and easy," the designer says. "Simply slide your iPad Mini or iPhone 6+ into the AirVR and you’re set. The ergonomic foam pads and adjustable ballistic nylon straps ensure a snug and comfortable fit."

While headsets such as this aren't up to the scope of dedicated hardware like the Oculus Rift, there's definitely something to be said for their affordability, wirelessness (if there is such a word) and the default inclusion of a camera pass-through.

Metatecture isn't just 3D printing an iPad head mount, however.

The iPad mini version will bring unused screen real estate into use via a 'touch strip,' which adds buttons to AirVR-enabled games and apps to make control and adjustment easier for the user.

It's also put together an open-source SDK that works with Unity, making it quicker and simpler for developers to adapt existing games into virtual reality titles, and create brand new ones from scratch.

If the AirVR Kickstarter campaign is successful - and given that it's brought in around a fifth of its goal within 24 hours, it seems likely - the headset is expected to go on sale at the beginning of 2015.

Check it out.

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.