Virtual reality is increasingly getting into the hands of consumers, and now, this new Kickstarter project aims to make that even more the case — literally.
Shot is a new lens attachment and app that transforms your iPhone into a virtual reality camera. It does so by placing a "super fisheye" lens over your iPhone's front and rear cameras to increase the field-of-view of the camera. It then merges those two photos into one high-resolution panorama photo. While it is not possible to record video using both cameras, Shot does increase the camera's field-of-view to 235 degrees, which is equivalent to what you would see around you while sitting in a chair.
You can then share your creations through Shot's app and also check out what other people have made using the special lens attachment. The interface of the app is similar to Instagram or Vine, according to Shot's Kickstarter page.
The Shot lens attachment is compatible with the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus, and creations can be viewed using Google Cardboard, which is included in every lens kit.
"Our approach goes in the opposite direction of the industry efforts," William Viana, a co-founder of Shot along with fellow software engineer Jorge Leria, said in a press release. "Instead of creating an expensive device composed of several cameras for professional filmmakers, we wanted to create something affordable and easy to use."
So far, Shot has raised more than $6,800 of its $100,619 goal, as of the time of this writing. It doesn't look like Shot will do much more to your photos than what the panorama function on your iPhone can already do, although it probably will have fewer terrifying mistakes. Still, it's possible that it could be one of the easier and cheaper ways to try your hand at VR, because that's something that's probably not going away any time soon.
