vrAse: turn your smartphone into glasses for virtual reality

While the developers of Oculus Rift bring their product to the mind, everyone has the opportunity to get another interesting virtual reality helmet - and to do it a little earlier.

Many have a smartphone with an impressive screen size - maybe even with Full HD resolution; productive processor; accelerometer and gyroscope. The question is - why not use it as a screen for 3D glasses?



This is exactly what vrAse is meant to do. The design is very simple - a special case for mobile is mounted on a plastic case with a partition that divides the field of view for the left and right eyes; and a pair of lenses to focus on the image, and not on the scratches of the screen.
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In the case of the Oculus Rift, you get a ready-made device - you will not have any opportunity to "upgrade" it. You cannot insert a better screen, you cannot add a camera to it or replace a position sensor in space with a new one. vrAse is devoid of these shortcomings. Want a higher resolution screen, more dots per inch, or better sensors? Just insert your new mobile!

To upgrade, you will have to spend money on a new case for mounting, and even then - only if the mobile will vary greatly in size. Neither the plastic case, nor the lenses (and they constitute the basic cost of the device) will not have to be changed.

Developers are going to release 2 types of cases for mobile - universal and suitable for a specific phone model. In the universal case, you can insert any of your mobile, whether it is from a very respected brand, or an unknown Chinese, with a screen size of 3.5 to 6.3 inches. In addition, developers are expanding the list of cases suitable for specific mobile models, plus they have one: the presence in the right place openings for the headphone output. At the moment it is:

1. iPhone 5
2. HTC One
3. Xperia z
4. Galaxy S3
5. Galaxy S4
6. Galaxy Note II

For some, it is very important that the extra wires in the house be as small as possible. In addition, getting rid of the wires allows you to use virtual reality glasses anywhere in your home, while having freedom of movement. The ability to use them on the street - of course, can be a plus.

The developers are positioning the device for use with augmented reality : without removing it from your head, you can see the whole world around you thanks to the multi-megapixel camera built into your smartphone (take at least Nokia 808 PureView), and at the same time use all the capabilities of augmented reality. The set of possibilities is in general standard: you can see additional information over the image from the camera, for example: your location, distance to a certain point, or information about objects. While the functions of augmented reality are at the stage of the nearest plans - but such a function as video recording from the first person will be available from the very beginning. In addition, the device will perfectly play movies in 3D, and thanks to the ability to stream the stream to the device, you can also play games from a PC, Mac or other source.

Device video from developers:


At the moment, a limited batch of 1,000 pieces worth 58 pounds is still available on Kickstarter, which is a little more than 3,000 rubles or $ 90. A nice add-on for your smartphone for the price, isn't it?

If the company collects the required amount of 55,000 pounds, the first deliveries will begin in February 2014. Judging by the fact that 75% of the required amount has already been collected, and almost a month is left until the end of the fees, the probability of this event is very high.

Kickstarter Project: kck.st/18cgiYT
Project website: vrase.com

PS The post is written by user pasaf , who asked me to publish it, because he himself does not have an invite who receives an invite - thanks, SkidanovAlex !