Virtual reality is moving beyond games.
With Facebook snapping up Oculus Rift, and Fove using eye-tracking VR tech to help the disabled, it’s clear that virtual reality is broadening its horizons. Now, virtual reality startup Pinc (pronounced “Pinch”) is using VR technology to turn the iPhone 6 into a gesture control interface like those seen in Iron Man and Minority Report.
Put a ring on it
Like the Samsung GearVR, Pinc uses your phone as a screen. The folding headset does double duty as a case for your iPhone 6; unfolded, the iPhone becomes the headset’s display, with twin lenses widening the field of view for an immersive VR experience. So far, so familiar – but Pinc has another trick up its sleeve.
Pop a pair of rings on your index fingers, and Pinc becomes a gesture-controlled VR interface. With the headset and rings, you’ll be able to view a web browser with several windows in view; a quick swipe to the left or right with the optical control rings will select a different screen, while a virtual keyboard pops up at the bottom of the view for entering text.
Pinc says it wants to bring “VR heasets out of the gaming world and into the mainstream” – it’s designed a Pinc Shops app that will allow retailers to build a virtual rendition of their store and the items they sell. You’ll be able to tour the virtual shop and browse items before buying, using the gesture control interface to view every inch of your prospective purchases.
The Pinc VR headset is available to pre-order now from hellopinc.com for $99 (that’s in Canadian dollars) and an SDK is available for developers to start building apps.
