$30 ZapBox Mixed Reality kit launches on Kickstarter

Zappar, an Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technology company, has announce the launch of ZapBox, an affordable yet advanced way of bringing Mixed Reality experiences to the world. Combining a smartphone app with clever cardboard components, ZapBox lets you engage with virtual experiences that appear in your real world environment. All for just $30.

Until now this type of interactive experience has only been possible through dedicated AR hardware systems costing thousands of dollars. Starting from just $30 on Kickstarter, ZapBox opens the door to a new reality for everybody at a much more consumer-friendly price.

To get started, users download the free app and insert their phone into the ZapBox headset, similar to other cardboard headset solutions. ZapBox includes a cardboard headset, handheld controllers and a set of “pointcodes”. These pointcodes allow your position in a room to be tracked, enabling a “room scale” experience with content that reacts to your movement. This virtual stage within your physical world is capable of displaying all kinds of amazing interactive content.

Experiences that will be shipped with ZapBox include:

- Paint.  “ZapBrush”, where you can paint in 3D space and walk around your creations

- Play sports. a mini-golf hole in your bedroom

- Dance.  Match the coloured targets that emerge from the wall by moving your hands and head

- Enjoy music.  Learn to play the xylophone virtually, no instrument needed

- Educate.  Explore the vast solar system from your home

“Here at Zappar, our goal has always been to make AR, VR and now MR available to everyone. We’ve worked tirelessly to ensure all elements of ZapBox, from app to cardboard components, are simple and affordable but most importantly deliver awe-inspiring experiences. This all started when we said to ourselves: ‘Could we make Magic Leap, Magic Cheap?’. ZapBox is our answer to that question.” - Caspar Thykier, Zappar CEO and co-founder