View-Master
Remember that View-Master you used to own as a kid? Well, Mattel gave it a millenium-ready, virtual-reality-equipped overhaul; and it’s poised to become one of the best Google Cardboard solutions you can get your hands on.
In place of the round film discs, the new View-Master incorporates smartphone technology and is built to accommodate most smartphone models in the market today. It was available for only $30 and, a year after it was first launch, Mattel has announced that they will be making a new model available that will address the issues that plagued its predecessor.
In short, this could be the best and most accessible way the public can enjoy a virtual reality experience.
Improvements
The new model features an improved version of the View-Master design, where the smartphone mount can now accommodate a wider range of device sizes.
The previous design also relied on speakers that were blocked and muffled by the housing design—to address that, the new model now offers an accessible headphone jack adopter that can accommodate ear phones.
The 2.0 model does bump up the price of the View-Master, but only an additional $10. And when you consider that this is the price that you have pay for a sharper virtual reality experience, and the peace of mind knowing that the View-Master will keep your smartphone secure inside its housing, it's really not much of an increase.
Bottomline? $40 isn’t such a bad price to pay to enjoy a simple, worry free and nearly seamless virtual reality experience.
And the tech is also getting some new games for virtual reality, one is even a two-player. This will be a labyrinth game, where one player wears the VR headset and takes on the role of the "escapee," solving riddles and puzzles to find their way out of a maze. The second player will take on the role of an assistant, who will use a physical book of clues to assist with the escape.
In collaboration with national Geographic, they are also adding a new dinosaur-themed "experience pack." And best of all, the games will be just under $15.
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