[Video] Virtual Reality gets a new definition with Google and Mattel’s View-Master

Google and Mattel getting together sounds like something cool just waiting to happen. So when Mattel sent out invites for a joint event with Google, we could hardly contain our excitement. Based on rumors and hearsay, we expected something pretty dramatic happening to Google Cardboard — which enables users to experience virtual reality using their smartphones — and we weren’t disappointed.

The new view-master headset that Google and Mattel have cooked up is based on the Cardboard but all the interiors — the software that is — have been redone by Mattel and the result, according to initial reports, is something else entirely.

Remember the reel cards back when you were young? Well they are back in vouge, but what you need now is a view-master along with a smartphone to immerse yourself. Sounds cool, right? Well that’s not half of it. While you needed to point and click in order to view the next slide on the reel cards, here all you need to do when you want to look in a particular direction is… simply turn your head and look.

Mattel is also said to be using its own catalog of reels and the device also works with most apps, meaning you aren’t limited by what Mattel offers but can also probably access applications meant for Google cardboard.

mattel-view-master-phone

The headsets are expected to make an appearance in the mass market in 2015 giving us plenty of time to drool and dream over them and with the headsets costing just $29.99, and reel cards available for $14.99 there might just be one around every corner soon.