AirVR

The AirVR started life as a Kickstarter and got quite a bit of attention for possibly the wrong reasons.

While at first glance this seems like just another mobile phone case HMD, the AirVR was not designed for use with a phone, but with a tablet.

Yes, you read that right.

Specifically, it was designed for the iPad Mini with Retina display. No one else had even considered the idea of strapping an entire tablet onto someone’s face, so the AirVR has the distinction of pioneering this idea.

The goal of the company went beyond just making another case HMD. They are also attempting to create a more polished, iOS-centric “casual VR” ecosystem.

To this end, they’ve equipped the AirVR with external touch controls as well as several native apps only meant to work with their HMD.

There are also several developer tools to help prospective developers make content for the AirVR.

While AirVR is still forging ahead with their products, it seems they’ve left the tablet HMD idea behind, focusing on their AirVR1, which is a more traditional phone HMD.

The company is also marketing the AirVR line as something hip, to be personalised with colors of your choice or customized branding. Their software tools also aim to provide detailed information about how users interact with the software.

Whether we’ll ever get the AirVR in the hands of the general public remains to be seen, since currently there is no way to buy or pre order one.