Poppy: Kickstarter-Backed Device Turns Your Smartphone Into a 3D Camera
A pair of enterprising fellows are raising cash for a device called Poppy that purports to turn your iPhone into a 3D camera, which is the prototypical sort of Kickstarter project: interesting, quirky, and just a bit outside the lines of what the average consumer might want to buy.
You can slot in an Apple iPhone 5, 4S, or 4, or a 5th-generation iPod touch, and anything you view will be in 3D. If that sounds like a grown-up version of the legendary Viewmaster toy, that’s because it is. Poppy’s creators are actually attempting to recreate that effect, only with a smartphone camera.
The principles are the same: The device combines right eye and left eye views to form a 3D image, and Poppy does it using only optics--there are no batteries or electronics on board, which the pair says keeps the cost low.
With a simple twist of the front part of Poppy, you can shoot video in 3D on your iPhone and share it YouTube where anyone can see it in 3D on 3D TVs, smartphones, or computers using Poppy or those red-and-blue 3D glasses.
Inspiration
It’s simple and terrific. The pair was looking to raise $40,000 on Kickstarter to get production going, but after two days, it’s already at more than $67,000. If anyone was thinking of something to get us for our birthday, you can stop thinking and get us one of these babies.
You can slot in an Apple iPhone 5, 4S, or 4, or a 5th-generation iPod touch, and anything you view will be in 3D. If that sounds like a grown-up version of the legendary Viewmaster toy, that’s because it is. Poppy’s creators are actually attempting to recreate that effect, only with a smartphone camera.
The principles are the same: The device combines right eye and left eye views to form a 3D image, and Poppy does it using only optics--there are no batteries or electronics on board, which the pair says keeps the cost low.
With a simple twist of the front part of Poppy, you can shoot video in 3D on your iPhone and share it YouTube where anyone can see it in 3D on 3D TVs, smartphones, or computers using Poppy or those red-and-blue 3D glasses.
Inspiration
It’s simple and terrific. The pair was looking to raise $40,000 on Kickstarter to get production going, but after two days, it’s already at more than $67,000. If anyone was thinking of something to get us for our birthday, you can stop thinking and get us one of these babies.
