Augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) comes in all shapes and sizes, from the consumer level entries like Pokemon GO to high-end headsets such as Microsoft’s HoloLens. The tech has been slower to implement than virtual reality (VR) – which has seen consumer headsets like Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard achieve widespread adoption – but its beginning to gain ground. So would a cheap cardboard style headset work? Well Aryzon has just launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign that seems to prove it may.
Aryzon launched the campaign for its cardboard inspired AR headset yesterday hoping to raise €25,000 EUR over the next month. The idea has proved very popular with the goal already achieved within 24 hours, the current tally sits at €29,025. Funding tiers start from €24 for the early bird while the standard price is €29 for a single unit. Prices after that are for multipacks offering more discount on bulk orders.
So how does it work? Well it uses a system that looks similar to a periscope. A users smartphone is placed into the front holder to provide the imagery while the camera allows Aryzon’s software to track surroundings. The stereo image on the smartphone’s display is reflected off a mirror, brought into focus with stereoscopic lenses onto a piece of reflective glass.
Designed as a do-it-yourself build similar the Google Cardboard, Aryzon comes flat packed with quick assemble instructions. Developed by a team of five industrial design students from the Netherlands, the app plays an important role in the whole setup. It uses target images – imagine something similar to a QR code – to track the environment whilst displaying content. Kickstarter kits are supplied with one of these ‘target images’, but the app will also allow users to create their own.
With the campaign funded the estimated delivery is September 2017 – although early access backers should get theirs a month earlier. For any further updates on Aryzon, keep reading VRFocus.