That didn’t turn out to be much of a problem for me because I found I couldn’t use it for very long without getting nauseated. The viewer has a wrist strap but no head strap, so you have to hold it up to your face the whole time you’re using it. View-Master Destinations provides VR visits to the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza. The Space and National Geographic apps have some computer-generated elements that are in motion, but nothing live. Likewise, Google Cardboard app’s tour of Paris around the Eiffel Tower is basically indistinguishable from Street View. You can stand in front of the Acropolis, look around and access information on it, but there are no people milling about, there’s no movement of any kind. That’s pretty neat, but as someone who spent a fair amount of time in the 1990s looking at QuickTime VR videos (such as Star Trek: The Captain’s Chair), I was somewhat underwhelmed by the static nature of most of the View-Master content. I spent the $15 on the Destinations app and unlocked a number of additional sets of VR images of (mostly) places I’ve never been. The other nod is the lever, which is simply a switch that forces a rubber nub to tap the screen of your phone inside the headset, used to indicate a selection, to move in a certain direction, to fire in a game, etc. The Preview Reel is Mattel’s nod to the View-Master’s roots, but if you lose it you can still access the preview content through the app’s menu. The instructions also tell you to start the app by looking at the Preview Reel through the viewer and doing so in the app overlays a virtual menu of sorts onto the Reel.
The reason is so the app can scan the QR code on the View-Master VR to determine which viewer you have (some apps from other creators simply ask you). One of the first things the apps do is ask for access to the camera and photos. Each features content to try out, with additional content you can unlock for $15. View-Master has three of its own- Space, the travel-related Destinations, and National Geographic Wildlife-that you can download for free. Before you close it up, you’re going to need some apps. For the record, it’s with the lever to your right, even though the image shows the front of the viewer.īut, hang on. The instructions indicate you should put your phone in with the top “to the left.” That’s helpful… if you know which way the viewer is supposed to be when doing this. I had a little trouble getting ushered into our new virtual reality future early on.
The device is nicely packaged and comes with a brief instruction manual and the Preview Reel, which is ostensibly for unlocking preview content.