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back to article Smartphone NOT INCLUDED: Google plays with Mattel – plugs VR into retro toy

Toy manufacturer Mattel has inked an undisclosed deal with Google to turn its View-Master product into a "digital experience" for kids. The retro stereoscopic toy has been rebooted for youngsters as an "immersive 360-degree" virtual reality plaything, apparently. Mattel said it now works with Google's virtual reality headset …

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  1. EddieD

    I'd love one...

    But they don't fit the Nexus 7 <sniffle>

    Edit: "Kids" is a non-specific term, isn't it? As Tom Lehrer once said "I'm engaged in a serious scientific experiment - prolonging adolescence beyond previous limits"

    3 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'd love one...

      He also said something else:

      He gives the kids free samples,

      Because he knows full well

      That today's young innocent faces

      Will be tomorrow's clientele

      Tom Lehrer - The Old Dope Peddler

      Granted - 30 is not exactly free, but it is not a lot of money in the developed world either.

      1 0 Reply
  2. Teiwaz

    used to have a Viewmaster when I was small

    It wasa hand-me-down, had about 5 cards for it.

    I thought the only reason to have one of these today would be to teach your kids/grandkids what was considered entertainment before tv (or at least before there were more than one in the house) and games, and how you had to make your own entertainment.

    'Four yorkshiremen sketch' in 5,4,3,2....

    0 0 Reply
    1. e_is_real_i_isnt
      Reply Icon

      Re: used to have a Viewmaster when I was small

      One of the original uses was teaching anatomy to medical students. See http://www.3dstereo.com/viewmaster/bkn-atlas.html for a description of a book that catalogs the effort. It only became cartoony later. "221 View-Master Reels with 1,547 color stereo views of dissections of every body region"

      0 0 Reply
      1. Spanners Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Pirate

        Re: used to have a Viewmaster when I was small

        The original use was to for looking at pretty scenes but it really caught on during WWII when the US military tried to teach (aircraft?) recognition to its personnel.

        That's not a great recommendation though. Ask their allies!

        0 0 Reply
  3. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Not to be a stick in the mud...

    Not to be a stick in the mud... but, if this already requires Google Cardboard (the cardobard holder to put the phone in), and the phone, isn't this just a viewmaster-looking piece of plastic then? So, why would I buy it when I could just use the Google Cardboard directly? Will it even accept Viewsmaster disks? (It'd be.. .well.. something at least if it accepted both cardboard and the disks.)

    1 0 Reply

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