The world of Virtual Reality (VR) development is currently dominated by headsets that run their own hardware such as Oculus Rift and Sony Corporation’s Project Morpheus. This makes headsets powerful, but expensive. The alternative is to use already-existing hardware such as smartphones. California-based startup FullDive Inc. hopes add a cheaper everyday alternative to the VR landscape with a case and controller that turns consumer smartphones into fully-fledged VR devices.

FullDive supplies a smartphone application—available for Android devices, an iOS version is planned. The app acts to turn the smartphone into the VR screen and FullDive then supplies a plastic headset, FullDive Wear, customized to the Android or iOS phone in use, with an adjustable head-strap.

Control is provided to users by head movement tracking and a sensor-driven controller wand, the FullDive Wand (shaped a lot like a short pencil.) The head tracking and controller act together in what FullDive calls “mixed reality,” that is an application of augmented reality. According to FullDive users can create and interact with “3D holograms” using the mixed reality mode.

To do this, the FullDive Wear case has an opening in the outside that provides a lens for the smartphone camera for augmented reality applications. Therefore users can see what they’re looking at through the headset and the VR application provides the framework for the 3D holograms.

Finally, the FullDive app and system will provide an SDK for developers to create VR applications and content.

The glimmer behind FullDive’s app, controller, and case started in August 2014 and gave way to a prototype in February 2015. The company is planning a Kickstarter to begin this month to help fund the production of the device as well.

Preorders for the FullDive Wear and Wand are currently up on the website set at $29.00 (with a suggested retail of $69.00.) The case covers a wide variety of current Android and iOS devices, with special instructions for others not listed as currently supported.

Competition for Google Cardboard

The concept of turning a smartphone into a VR device is not a new one. Google already has an app and project named Google Cardboard that permits users to download an app onto their Android device and then fold together a literal cardboard case that isolates the users’ vision.

FullDive’s Wear functions under a very similar concept, except that FullDive provides the case and FullDive also provides a controller. What will set FullDive apart from Google Cardboard more than the case is the controller.

Both VR and AR applications provide users a different way to interact with computer systems. Already many proponents of AR have hoped to see interfaces similar to that seen in the 2002 movie Minority Report, something that the Microsoft Kinect kinda delivered for gaming and TV sets. VR and AR devices provide a new way to interact with environments, both virtual and real, and one of the hard problems is gesture and motion detection for user control.

A sensor-wand controller gives the FullDive app the opportunity to provide easier tracking and control for users, which may be potentially more precise than gesture and motion detection.

Although it also adds an extra component that could be misplaced by users (rendering it useless if lost) the results of that trade-off remain to be seen. And, there’s also the possibility that FullDive will eventually build in gesture detection to the VR/AR app.

Photo credit: FullDive Wear and Wand, via FullDive Inc.