Will ShanklinFebruary 13, 2015Mattel resurrects the View-Master, marries it to Google Cardboard virtual reality

Mattel is teaming up with Google to marry the classic View-Master to modern virtual reality

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If you're of a certain age, then you might have fond memories of the View-Master. Pop in a disc, hold the device up to your face, and enjoy some 3D images of, say, the latest Muppets movie or climactic scenes from Chips or The Dukes of Hazzard. Today Mattel and Google announced an update that tries to merge the classic device with modern virtual reality.

76 years after the first View-Master was unveiled, the new View-Master skips stereoscopic film images in favor of Google Cardboard-based virtual reality. While the reels from the classic device were lined with tiny photographs, the new version's "reels" instead unlock digital VR content.

Like all Google Cardboard headsets, you get started with the new View-Master by sliding in a compatible Android phone. Instead of being instantly "transported," though, this experience starts by using the phone's camera to give you an augmented view of your own environment. This is where the "reels" come in: look at one of the discs, and you'll then enter their corresponding virtual environment(s).

The View-Master's content is designed to take children on virtual field trips, where they can "explore famous places, landmarks, nature, planets" and more in (Google Street view-style) 360-degree photospheres.

It sounds like it's designed more for static 360-degree photos than it is immersive VR videos or games, but with a smartphone powering the experience, there's no reason the headset couldn't eventually support those as well.

Apart from the disc novelty, this isn't anything new to the world of VR. Both the Oculus Rift developers' kit and Samsung Gear VR already offer static and moving 360-degree "experiences" like the ones Mattel is pitching. But it is an interesting marketing move nonetheless: reviving a nostalgic product and aiming VR specifically at young children.

It's also a move to expand on the budding Google Cardboard platform. What was announced as a deceptively low-grade developers' kit is showing its true colors as a clever way to bring VR content to the Play Store. Cardboard is showing more signs of moving into the consumer space, with LG using a Cardboard headset as a bonus for G3 buyers and a popular Cardboard assembler crowdfunding a consumer-grade headset.

The new View-Master will retail for US$30 (including one "reel"), and is set to launch this October. Additional reel packs, which will each include four experiences, will cost $15 a pop. Just don't hold your breath for Boss Hogg or Erik Estrada showing up in any of them.

Source: Mattel

美泰重振View-Master，使其与Google Cardboard虚拟现实紧密结合

mattel复活的主视图，娶到纸板虚拟reality
美泰与谷歌联手嫁给经典视图掌握现代虚拟现实

图片谷歌（2幅）
如果你是一个特定的年龄，那么你可能的观点主人的美好回忆。在弹出的盘，把装置到你的脸，并享受一些3D图像，说，最新的搞笑电影或高潮场面从芯片或哈扎德公爵。今天，美泰和谷歌宣布了一项更新，力求经典与现代虚拟现实设备合并。

< P > 76年后的第一个主视图已经亮相，新的主视图对基于虚拟现实的谷歌纸板支持立体电影图像。而从经典装置的卷轴是一排排的小照片，新版本的“卷轴”代替数字VR解锁内容。

像所有谷歌纸板耳机，你开始在一个兼容的Android手机滑动新主视图。虽然，这种体验开始通过使用手机的相机给你一个增强的视图，你自己的环境，而不是立即“运输”。这就是“卷轴”来：看一个光盘，你会进入相应的虚拟环境（S）。

的主视图的内容设计以儿童虚拟实地考察，在那里他们可以“探索著名的地方，标志性建筑，自然，行星”和更多的（谷歌街景风格）360度的光球。

听起来像它的设计更为静态的360度的照片比它是沉浸式虚拟现实视频或游戏，但随着智能手机供电的经验，没有理由不支持耳机最终也。

除了光盘的新颖性外，这对虚拟现实世界不是什么新鲜事。无论是Oculus Rift开发者套件和三星Gear VR已经提供静态和动态360度”一样，美泰正在经历“。但它仍然是一个有趣的营销举措：复兴一个怀旧的产品，并针对虚拟现实，特别是在年幼的孩子，这也是一个扩大在萌芽谷歌纸板平台。什么被宣布为一个看似低级开发者套件显示出它的真面目将VR内容播放存储的聪明方法。纸板更显示出进入消费空间的迹象，与LG G3耳机使用纸板作为买家和一个受欢迎的纸板汇编众消费级耳机奖金。

新主视图的零售价为30美元（包括一个“卷”），并设置为今年十月发射。额外的卷轴包，其中每一个包括四个经验，将花费15美元一个弹出。只是不要霍格老板或埃里克埃斯特拉达出现在任何他们屏住呼吸。