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Design

Phone Case Turns Your Display into an Immersive VR Experience

Pinć VR is smartphone case that doubles as a virtual reality headset that can fit in your pocket.
Images courtesy of Cordon Media

This article was originally published on November 24, 2014 but we think it still rocks!

Toronto-based design company Cordon Media concieved of Pinć VR, a combination smartphone case and software suite that creates a portable virtual reality interface, unlike the bulky headsets offered by Oculus Rift or the impracticality of Google Glass.

Pinć (pronounced "pinch"), is a smartphone case that unfolds to reveal virtual reality glasses with lenses and straps, converting your smartphone's display into an immersive virtual reality experience. Combined with the Pinć app and two wireless, clickable rings, users can pull their phones out of their pockets, slip on the goggles, then browse the web, watch YouTube videos, and perform inside a 180-degree display.

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"We want to make VR the next mobile medium," Cordon Media president Milan Baic tells The Creators Project. While the goggles are rough around the edges, the interface offers an experience wholly different from that of my normal smartphone. I type, click-by-click, in a 3D space as a virtual orca whale floats by in front of a Facebook feed. As it swims away, I follow it with my head and watch it do barrel rolls against the backdrops of YouTube and Pinć's 3D online shopping center.

The Pinć IndieGogo offers a case for each donation of $99 dollars, set to ship in either February or June, 2015, depending on how quickly you order. We're excited to see what innovators like Nonny de la Peña and Robin Arnott might do once their projects can become pocketable.

To learn more about Pinć's design click here.

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