Poppy, A Device That Turns Your Phone Into A 3-D Camera, Launches On Kickstarter

Every now and then in this job I see something that’s just fun and new and interesting and I think, “Wow, why hasn’t anyone else thought of that?” That’s kind of how I felt when I first saw Poppy, which is a cute little device that lets you view and record 3-D photos and videos from your iPhone.

Poppy is the newest little gadget to go up on Kickstarter, offering up a new fun toy for anyone who likes to shoot or view 3-D video. And it’ll be priced to sell — at less than $50, Poppy is within reach for pretty much anyone who wants it, or who wants to give a cool little gift to friends and family.

Poppy looks kind of like an oversized Viewmaster — you know, that 3-D photo viewing thing you had as a kid? You’d click the wheel you’d be able to see another 3-D image through the viewfinder? Weren’t those the days?*

Anyway, Poppy even kind of works the same way as a Viewmaster — but instead of putting some weird rotating disk in a slot, you plug in the iPhone. Then you flip the front half of the device over to align it with the phone’s camera, and voila! You’re able to shoot and view 3-D.

The whole thing works through the science of mirrors, but science isn’t really that interesting. Just trust me. It’s a cool gadget.

All images and videos are recorded so that they can be viewed from your phone. But to be honest, maybe you want to watch 3-D video other people have shot? Well you’re in luck! There’s a whole bunch of swank videos on YouTube that you can stream through the device as well.

The guys behind Poppy are looking to raise $40,000 on Kickstarter. That’s doable, right? Kick in a little, get you one. They plan to ship by the end of the year.

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* It saddens me to know that there is an entire generation reading this that has no idea what I’m talking about.