Virtual reality for the masses: £30 Immerse headset lets you journey through VR worlds and watch 3D movies on your phone

• The virtual reality headset is available to buy from Firebox for £29.95
• It works with Android and iOS phones via virtual reality apps and 3D films
• The maximum size of the device must be 3.5 x 5.7-inches (8.2 x 15.4cm)
• It calls itself an affordable alternative to rivals such as Oculus Rift

By Victoria Woollaston for MailOnline

Published: 06:34 EST, 16 April 2015 | Updated: 10:57 EST, 24 April 2015

Virtual reality may still seem like a hobby reserved for hardcore gamers, but as headsets drop in price it is on the verge of becoming mainstream.

One firm helping to fuel this trend is Immerse.

It has created a virtual reality headset that works with any Android and iOS phone and is compatible with hundreds of virtual reality apps from the respective stores.

It additionally lets people watch 3D movies - all for the relatively cheap price of £29.99 ($45). 

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The Immerse virtual reality headset (pictured) is available from Firebox for £29.95 ($45). It works with any Android and iOS phone that can run virtual reality apps from the respective stores, and will play any 3D movie

The maximum size of compatible devices is 3.5 x 5.7-inches (8.2 x 15.4cm), which means it will work with the iPhone 6, but not the iPhone 6 Plus, for example. 

However, in theory any device with a screen that fits these measurements and that can run a 3D movie or virtual reality apps will work because the processing power comes entirely from the gadget.

Immerse is fitted with an earphone slot to truly immerse the wearer in whatever they are watching and has adjustable head straps and lenses. 

Other features include 360° head tracking and an 'ultra-wide field of view' - although the exact degree of view isn't listed.

Immerse calls itself an affordable alternative to rivals such as Oculus Rift, which is expected to launch a consumer version 'soon' with prices ranging from between $200 (£135) and $400 (£270).

Immerse is available to buy from Firebox and can be shipped internationally.

Affordable virtual reality with the £30 Immerse headset

The maximum size of compatible devices is 3.5 x 5.7-inches (8.2 x 15.4cm), which means it will work with the iPhone 6, but not the iPhone 6 Plus, for example. However, in theory any device with a screen that fits these measurements and can run a 3D movie, or run virtual reality apps, will work

Immerse is fitted with an earphone slot to truly immerse the wearer in whatever they are watching and has adjustable head straps and lenses (pictured). Other features include 360° head tracking and an 'ultra-wide field of view' - although the exact degree of view isn't listed

The product description says: 'You've probably seen countless videos on the internet of people wearing the much-lauded Oculus Rift, tripping out in digital worlds and generally loving life. 

'Not only is this revolutionary device unavailable until 2016, but you'll probably have to sell a number of vital organs just to be able to buy it. 

'Well, feast your eyes on (and indeed, in) the Immerse Virtual Reality Headset - a new and affordable foray into the breathtaking world of virtual reality.' 

Immerse is the latest attempt to introduce virtual reality to the masses, which has seen a surge recently with the launch of Samsung's Gear VR range and similar announcements from Sony and HTC. 

Samsung's version is available now with prices starting at £169 in the UK and $199 in the US for the Innovation headset.

However, it is tied to Samsung phones.  

Sony's Morpheus headset is expected to launch in 2016 but prices have not yet been announced. 

And HTC's Vive full-body virtual reality system will be available to developers this summer. 

Alternatively Google offers its Google Cardboard headset for free by downloading the folding instructions. 

Or users can buy pre-folded versions from designers for around $24.99 (£16.75). 

Google also recently teamed up with Mattel to revamp the 1980s classic toy, the View-Master. 

According to Mattel, users of the device will feel like they are 'inside the scene'. 

Elsewhere, Google recently funded a firm called Magic Leap that makes augmented reality glasses.

Augmented reality differs from virtual reality because it places graphics and images on top of a view of the real world, rather than transports people to virtual worlds.  

Immerse is the latest attempt to introduce virtual reality to the masses, which has seen an surge recently with the launch of Samsung's Gear VR range (illustrated) and similar announcements from Sony and HTC. Samsung's version is available from £169 in the UK and $199 in the US, buy it is tied to Samsung phones

Sony's Morpheus headset (picutred) is expected to launch in 2016 but prices have not yet been announced

Michael Abrash, chief scientist from Facebook-owned virtual reality (VR) experts Oculus said at the firm's annual F8 conference in San Francisco said The Matrix provides the best sense of what virtual reality could someday be like. 

He said our brain never sees the real world, but instead infers it based on the 'sparse' data it receives and used a series of optical illusions to make this point.

For example, he explained that humans only have three colour sensors, we can’t see infrared or ultraviolet and we have a blind spot in each eye. 

‘Our visual data is actually astonishingly sparse and even if we were able to accurately record and process every photon that reaches our eyes, we’d still have too little data to be able to reconstruct the world accurately,' he said.

He used the recent black and blue/white and gold dress as an example.

‘Our visual system takes its best guess and sends that to the conscious mind,’ he continued.

'The way that the brain compensates for the limited data it receives is by maintaining a model of the real world that it constantly updates as new data comes in.

Google offers its Google Cardboard headset (pictured) for free by downloading the folding instructions. Or users can buy pre-folded versions from designers for around $24.99 (£16.75)

Michael Abrash, chief scientist from Oculus recently used this image to show how vision is simply our perception of the world, but isn't realty. The pills are the same shade of grey, and the red and blue colours that people see are simply what their brains perceive, based on the rest of the information around them

'And it is that model, not the real world, that you experience and trust implicitly. We are inference machines, not objective observers. 

He then showed a red and blue pill on hands that were shown on a yellow background to give an example of how this inference model breaks down.

The colours of the pills are the same shade of grey, and the red and blue colours that people see are simply what their brains perceive, based on the rest of the information around them. 

And even when a person knows that the pills are grey, they still see them as red or blue. 

‘Your visual system isn’t interested in whether the photons coming from a tile on a random image are red or blue or grey,' Mr Abrash continued.

'Knowing that didn’t keep anyone from being eaten by lions on the Savannah. What it is interested in is identifying potentially relevant features, in the real world, under a variety of conditions.

'Your visual system constantly corrects for the colours in the scene. It is reverse engineering reality rather than just recording it. The colours seen are your brain’s “best guess.”’

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