Move over Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR, there's a new virtual reality kid in town and it's iPhone and iPad based.

AirVR is a cheap virtual reality headset currently going through the Kickstarter funding phase that uses the Retina display on a latest iPad mini or iPhone 6 Plus and the AirVR or AirVR+ lenses to create "immersive VR".

In much the same way as the Samsung headset requires a Note 4 to be slotted into the front, the AirVR system slots an Apple device into a set position. It doesn't require power either, using the power of the iPhone or iPad to run (the headset is basically, just some tethered lenses).

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It does need to run AirVR software to split images to left and right eye. The company will release a few of its own apps too that will work with the headset. PhotoVR lets you view your own photos from a more immersive perspective, and even take pictures while you are wearing the virtual and augmented reality set.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/768618350/airvr-virtual-reality-for-ios/widget/video.html

The MovieVR app will work with 3D and HD movies, which you can watch in first person or on a virtual 3D screen. And the PanoVR app will create full spherical 360-degree panoramas as you move your head so you can revisit them whenever you like, with the images mapping to the virtual space.

Other side-by-side 3D content is viewable using the AirVR headset too. AirVR compatible games are also planned. An SDK will be available for developers to create apps dedicated to the system.

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The AirVR for iPad mini with Retina display also has a TouchStrip mode which used the bottom strip of the tablet's screen to display a series of buttons for finer control. Because of each device's native resolution, the AirVR offers a resolution of 1024 x 1200 for each eye, while the AirVR+, specifically for the new iPhone 6 Plus, offers 960 x 1080 per eye.

Both versions will retail for $49 (£30) when released around December time. You can buy one through the Kickstarter funding page at present, which has 28 days to go at the time of writing. The project has currently made almost half its funding goal of $20,000.