There are several companies that are struggling with the age old quandry of “evolve or die.” Some, like Polaroid and Kodak, haven’t done too well at technological evolution, but others – like the Fisher Price Viewmaster may just have a leg up as it tries to appeal to tech saavy kids.
Growing up as a kid, I loved Viewmaster. It took you to places you probably would never go to and give you 3D memories so you could live vicariously. It was really cool (especially the NASA Apollo reels, they were the best). Every kid I knew had a Viewmaster and we would not only watch them, but we would also trade and borrow each others discs. It was a great toy for passive playtime. But as the world moved from analog to digital, Viewmaster was faced with it’s own extinction, and evolve or die was the watch word.
So, by partnering up with Spatial View, Fisher Price is going to evolve and offer Viewmaster Digital 3D, over a century stereoscopic images that can be viewed on your mobile devices and also through your 3D capable HDTV.
“The View-Master archive is a virtual treasure-trove of 3D imagery capturing over 100 years of history and culture,” said Peter Snajczuk, Vice President of Marketing for Fisher-Price. “We’re thrilled to be working with Spatial View to make these spectacular images available digitally for download from ViewMasterDigital3D.com to a variety of 3D mobile devices and Internet-connected 3D TVs.”
Beginning sometime in the first quarter of 2012, iPhone 4 users will be able to turn their device into a digital Viewmaster thanks to Spatial View’s innovative 3DeeSlide accessory which will then let them view the images in 3D without the need of glasses. Support for Android 3D smart phones, Windows PCs, and 3D TV platforms will soon follow. The 3D images, which will initiallyinclude a selection of titles consisting of national parks, travel, nature, and history, will be sold in the classic package of 18-21 images for $1.99 at the Viewmaster Digital 3D website.
For more information or to be notified when the View-Master 3D images will be available, please visit www.viewmasterdigital3d.com.