We’re at an age when Virtual Reality is picking up a lot of steam, and Mattel has taken the oppertunity to revamp their View-Master toy into a Google Cardboard-powered VR device just for kids.
For those who might find this familiar, the original Mattel View-Master is a little device most of us likely had as a kid, where you insert a disc with pictures film and view them like you’re using a pair of binoculars.
Mattel has revamped the headset into a Google Cardboard compatible form, much to the delight of tech savvy parents and kids everywhere.
Like most Cardboard devices, you need a phone for it to work, but this also means that the View-Master pretty much works with any Google Cardboard compatible app. Nice!
It however isn’t any Samsung Gear VR or Oculus Rift so it is still subject to any shortcomings suffered by the Cardboard. Still, it is a very small price to pay for something a lot tougher (well, plastic) than your average Cardboard headset.
Aside from the regular Cardboard apps, the View-Master has three experience packs up for purchase. They apparently aren’t designed for prolonged use (and you shouldn’t stick your kid on a VR headset for that long anyway) and are somewhat limited to the capabilities of the headset itself.
The device retails at $30 (about RM 128) which is a fair bit costly, but its a good stand in until someone produces a proper dedicated VR headset for kids.
