UPDATE: According to USA Today, the new View-Master will cost $29.99 and will come with a sample "experience reel." Additional reels will be available in three-packs for $14.99.
Remember how LG is using Google Cardboard to offer its own virtual reality headset? Well it looks like it isn’t the only company that’s going to do so.
Mattel announced today that it’s teaming up with Google to create a new View-Master headset that’s based on virtual reality. It uses Google’s Cardboard platform and photospheres to let users explore places like Paris, Alcatraz, and while interacting with and learning facts about these places.
To use the new View-Master, you’ll need the headset itself, an Android phone with the special app, and a View-Master “experience reel.”
Mattel says that the new View-Master will launch in fall 2015. There’s no word yet on how much it’ll cost, but Mattel touts its new View-Master as an “affordable platform” to learn about famous places.
This new View-Master looks very much like a 2015 version of the old-school device that you’d stick reels into and manually click from one to another. And while this new requires a bit more to get going than the old one — specifically, you’ll need a smartphone for it — it’ll also provide a much more immersive and realistic experience for exploring and learning about famous places.
What do you think about this new View-Master? Did you ever use one of the old units as a kid?