Google, Mattel unveils a new virtual reality View-Master for the 21st century

Targeted at families, the updated version of the 75-year-old View-Master has users insert a smartphone into a headset. Using a smartphone app, the gadget hopes to immerse kids in a slew of virtual worlds, from far-off cities to outer space.

Mattel and Google are trying to bring the 75-year-old View-Master into the 21st century, updating the iconic stereoscopic photo viewer with smartphone compatibility and virtual reality technology.

It's a long way from Google Glass, both in price ($30 vs. $1,500) and aim.

Targeted at families, the updated View-Master has users insert a smartphone into a headset. Using a smartphone app, the gadget hopes to immerse kids in a slew of virtual worlds, from far-off cities to outer space.

Mattel Inc. and Google Inc. unveiled the virtual reality viewer Friday at Mattel's New York City office.

The device launches in the fall, so the companies had no finished product to show off. But Mattel demonstrated the technology using Google Cardboard, a cardboard attachment that turns smartphones into virtual reality viewers.