News Gadget Update : View-Master History: From Sawyers, Mattel To The Age Of Virtual Reality

The View-Master, the classic children's toy from the 1930s, has undergone a series of upgrades through the years, but nothing gives this fire-engine red 3D picture viewer a 21st century boost more than a collaboration with Google Cardboard does.

Mattel's View-Master has come a long way from William Gruber's stereoscope updated with the new Kodachrome color film. A chance encounter with Harold Graves of Sawyers Photography led to the View-Master being introduced to the world at the New York City World's Fair in 1939. 

 

A classic toy gets a modern upgrade. At the Toy Industry Association's Toy Fair on Friday, Feb. 13, Mattel unveiled a new partnership with Google to introduce immersive reels into the iconic View-Master 3D picture viewer. Children -- and adults -- will soon be able to experience virtual reality in a toy for $30 per piece

The View-Master was not initially intended for children's entertainment. Instead, its owners envisioned it as an educational tool for adults. The U.S. military even commissioned specially produced reels to help with spotting enemy aircraft in World War II.

However, the early 1950s brought in the rise of rivals that Sawyers decided to purchase. More importantly, Sawyers acquired the rights to create Disney-themed reels, so the View-Master as a children's toy was born. A series of acquisitions later, Mattel acquired View-Master and has been distributing the toy under its Fisher-Price brand since 1997.

Now, amid slumping sales for Mattel, the toymaker has introduced the next-generation View-Master infused with virtual reality, one of the hottest, if still experimental, new technologies being developed by plenty of major Internet and electronics companies, including Facebook and Samsung.

"By working with Google's Cardboard platform, we are now able to take that experience even further, bringing the discovery and immersive viewing experience of the View-Master to the digital age," said Doug Wadleigh, senior vice president and global brand general manager of Toy Box at Mattel. "Combining technology and innovation with this classic toy gives kids an enhanced experience, allowing for play opportunities not yet imagined through new, digitally curated content."

The new View-Master will become available in the fall, just in time for the holidays, for $30, and will come with a sample reel that allows children -- and adults -- to take a virtual tour to places such as the solar system, where text boxes pop up from out of thin air to provide information and trivia about the planets and other celestial bodies.

A quick flick of the lever on the side takes the viewer to other places, such as the Alcatraz Island on San Francisco Bay, a CGI-enhanced jungle populated by dinosaurs, or the Golden Gate Bridge. Mattel will also sell additional reel packs for $15 per pack, each containing four reels with different themes, such as science, nature and adventure destinations.

For the View-Master to deliver virtual reality experiences, it will need to be paired with the View-Master app and a smartphone slid into the plastic binoculars. Mattel says it is working to make both iPhone and Android smartphones compatible with the toy.

Mike Jazayeri, product director for Google Cardboard, says the partnership does not include a licensing or revenue sharing agreement. Instead, Cardboard was developed as a cheap and easy way to bring virtual reality to the masses without requiring them to pay large sums for a top-of-the-line device such as the Oculus Rift currently in development.

"We developed Google Cardboard as an open platform to inspire companies like Mattel to rethink how to deliver new user experiences through technology," said Jazayeri.

Posted by Unknown Sunday, February 15, 2015

Gaming News : EA Unveils Dead Space 3 DLC, Awakened

While the discharge of Dead Space 3 is still a few times away, Digital Artistry has declared the first DLC for the game—Awakened. The DLC will be launched in Goal and will price 800 Ms Factors on the Console 360, and $9.99 (approx. Rs 530) on the PlayStation 3 and PC.

EA has mentioned that Woke up will function "the franchise's pitch-dark sections," and the fight against the Necromorph will become more horrible. Common Administrator of Deep Activities Bob Papoutsis has said Woke up would function some of the "most distressing content" players have knowledgeable in any Dead Space activity. Papoutsis suggested at the DLC back in Jan.

While games normally are getting simpler to entice a broader viewers, Dead Space 3 won't be making serious players out in the freezing. It lately came to mild that Dead Space 3 would function four extra problems ways that would be revealed after the first playthrough. Two of the four modes—Classic and Hardcore—have clearly been made for those acquainted with the previously games. Traditional method is a single-player event that ditches the mission's renewed crosshairs and source control components to provide a experience more just like the game’s past versions. The Hardcore method only gives players one life for the whole strategy. The Dead Space 2 also had a Hardcore method, which permitted players a nice three helps you to save for the whole activity, but Dead Space 3 does not manage players any such high-class. 

There's also a New Game+ method that allows you start a new activity with all your improvements and collection unchanged, besides a Genuine Success method where everything in the experience has to be designed. "Enemies ONLY fall sources, and there is no rounds, wellness, or device areas to be discovered," Papoutsis said. "You’ll have to select what to art every time you see a regular. Upgrade? Med Pack? Lcd Core? Think quick -- there happens to be Waster right around the corner!"

He also described a new game play factor in Dead Space 3 known as scavenger crawlers. He said, “Another awesome function of DS3 is the scavenger bot. Everybody will find at least one of these crawlers in the experience [and there (are) a several invisible ones to select up, too.] The Scavenger Bot is an independent software that can collect sources for you and provide them to the Tool Development regular. Resources consist of things somatic gel, discarded steel, tungsten - components that you can use to art into anything you want, like a wellness package or device part.”

The activity, designed by Deep Activities, will be launched for Console 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on Feb 8. Make sure you examine out our review of Dead Space 3.

Posted by Unknown Thursday, February 07, 2013

New Technology To Watch Glasses-Free 3D Movies At Home

Researchers at Fraunhofer Institution for Telecoms, Heinrich-Hertz Institution have designed a technological innovation which transforms Blu-ray’s current 3D material in a way that it can be proven on autostereoscopic shows. The new tv displays will create it possible for customers have fun with 3D material without the undesirable 3D eyeglasses. However, 3D material has been missing until now. So, a new technological innovation will help adjust traditional 3D films to the new shows inResearchers at Fraunhofer Institution for Telecoms, Heinrich-Hertz Institution have designed a technological innovation which transforms Blu-ray’s current 3D material in a way that it can be proven on autostereoscopic shows. The new tv displays will create it possible for customers have fun with 3D material without the undesirable 3D eyeglasses. However, 3D material has been missing until now. So, a new technological innovation will help adjust traditional 3D films to the new shows in

Reportedly, tv producers will work on shows that can reproduce the mesmerizing miracle of three-dimensional tv pictures – without the eyeglasses. Though prototypes of such TV displays already are available, now customers will not have to delay much longer for the market release of these autostereoscopic shows. The 3D films currently available on Blu-ray are based on two different viewpoints, i.e., two pictures, one for each eye. However, autostereoscopic shows need five to ten opinions of the same landscape (depending on the type).

The number may even improve later on as such shows have to present a three-dimensional picture in such a way that it can be seen from different viewpoints. Generally, it should allow customers to get the same three perspective opinions from any place whether they are seated on a couch or on a seat on the other side of the room. Religious Riechert, specialist at HHI shows that they take the current two pictures and produce a level map – that is to say, a map that designates a particular range from the photographic camera to each item. “From there we estimate any of several advanced opinions by implementing level image-based making methods. And here is the really nice thing: The process functions on a completely computerized base, and quickly,” he included.

Previously, techniques were only able of producing such level charts at a considerably more slowly speed which also need guide variation at times. On the other hand, real-time transformation is like multiple presentation - the audience places a 3D Blu-ray cd, gets relaxed at the front side of the TV display and loves the film without the eyeglasses. Meanwhile, a components element reports the level map in the backdrop and produces the essential opinions.

The studies have already completed the software that transforms these information. In the next step, the scientists, operating together with market associates, plan to slot it onto a components product so that it can be incorporated into tvs. It may take another year to create the technological innovation available to the market and researchers will reveal this technological innovation at this season's IFA display in Germany from Aug 31 to Sept 5, 2012.

Posted by Unknown Saturday, August 18, 2012