Kim Kardashian Pops Off the Page as the First 3-D Magazine Cover Girl!

E! star is fronting a super-special project shot by her personal photog Nick Saglimbeni—and yes, you'll need glasses

Kim Kardashian takes sexy photos all the time. So, what was so special about these?

Plenty. E! News can exclusively report that Kim is the premiere subject of a 3-D photo spread in World's Most Beautiful, the first-ever magazine shot entirely in the eye-popping format. The innovative shoot was conceived by photographer Nick Saglimbeni and stars Kim as its eye-catching cover girl.

The assignment was so hush-hush that apparently even Kim didn't know all the details, except that she had signed up for a "top-secret" glam-meets-wasteland shoot in the California desert.

She certainly didn't know she going to be entering a third dimension!

When Saglimbeni told her that he would be shooting her in 3-D with his custom-made, trademarked camera, Kim was "amazed" and confident her fans would love the finished product, she told E! News.

"I work with Nick all the time and he is my favorite photographer," Kim said. "He just makes everyone feel so comfortable and confident...He just wants to have fun and make beautiful photos."

But the first time she saw her bodacious self in 3-D, it was "magical."

"It's like you're popping out of the screen!" Kim said in the interview that accompanies her spread in World's Most Beautiful, available Aug. 8 in a limited-edition print version for $4.99, as well as for free on iPads, iPhones and Android phones.

"There are so many exciting things you can do with 3-D," she said. "I can't wait to see what you do with it after this."

About the look of the shoot, Kim said she loved playing princess on a broken-down set.

"We were in this abandoned mining town, doing this shot where I was all glammed out in black lace, and I had to lie down on this old wooden porch," the E! star recalled. "I got so many splinters, in so many painful places, but I just stayed focused and tried to be sexy. I loved the contrast and how it all came together."

So that Kim didn't suffer those splinters for nothing, 3-D glasses are a must to truly appreciate Saglimbeni's work. (The version above is still stunning in 2-D, of course.)

Any standard red-cyan anaglyph glasses will do: Either wear the pair you swiped from the theater or you can get a free pair—there's a small shipping charge—from the magazine's website, WMB3D.com.