If you grew up from the 1960s through the 1980s, chances are you or someone you knew had a distinctive red image viewer and a stack of flimsy cardboard reels. The classic View-Master reels could depict scenery, movies, TV shows, or any other visual content in stereoscopic 3D, with some models even incorporating an audio track. Now, Mattel has announced a partnership with Google to bring a Carboard version of the View-Master to life with 3D animated reels that introduce kids to the concept of VR.
The new View-Master will be available for roughly $30, new “reels” of content will cost roughly $15 in packs of four and offer a new VR experience that’s tailor-made for children. The device won’t be wearable, as such — it’ll maintain the interactive elements that’ve made the View-Master option unique, with application availability across Android, iOS, and Windows. The device will apparently fit most smartphones (compatibility has yet to be detailed) and uses an uprated version of Google Cardboard made from plastic. Content can apparently be purchased in plastic reels or downloaded via the application (exactly how this works hasn’t been disclosed yet).
The new Googlefied version is clearly based on the classic styling of the original
The Verge wasn’t impressed with the initial run of viewer apps, claiming that the environments look like crude video games and that the informative captions “don’t do much to help.” The photos are getting better ratings, and the entire idea of updating a physical, reel-based system is both nostalgic for existing adults and possibly a cool idea for kids as well, if the content can be brought up to snuff.
One issue that the Verge brings up indirectly in its coverage is the simple fact that VR content will live and die on the strength of its material. This has been brought up in coverage at Ars Technica and from time to time in other areas — gaming that wants to include VR options have to be explicitly designed for it. Standard video effects that work perfectly well on a monitor aren’t well suited to a head-mounted display.
Done properly, Mattel’s View-Master could be an amazing toy that blends old-school physical hardware with brand-new content in resolutions and quality levels that children in the 1960s could only dream of. If the content is lackluster, however, the Mattel View-Master will go down as a failed kludge — a device that tried to bridge the gap between real-world toys and virtual entertainment and fell squarely into the hole instead.
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