Mattel and Google are aiming to give the 75-year-old View-Master device a new lease of life by updating the iconic stereoscopic photo viewer with smartphone compatibility and virtual reality technology.
Targeted at families, the updated View-Master has users insert a smartphone into a headset and then using a smartphone app, the gadget hopes to immerse kids in a slew of virtual worlds, from far-off cities to outer space.
Mattel and Google unveiled the virtual reality viewer at Mattel’s New York City office.
The device launches in the US in autumn and as yet there is no finished product on display, but but Mattel demonstrated the technology using Google Cardboard, a cardboard attachment that turns smartphones into virtual reality viewers.
Reels of tiny images will not be necessary for the new View-Master, but will enhance the experience if used.
In the demonstration, there were reels of images for San Francisco, outer space and dinosaurs. Pointing your headset at one and clicking a button on the side of the device took you into each of the worlds.
The original View-Master launched at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Mattel says it has sold more than 100 million of them. The new version will launch on Android devices first, but the companies plan to make it available on all platforms eventually.
Source Article from https://uk.news.yahoo.com/hi-tech-look-view-master-220606926.html
Hi-tech new look for View-Master
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