The evolution of the View Master

Oct 18, 2012 1 Comment by admin

A Thailand based start up are hoping to bring View Master style 3D fun into the iPhone era with FLIP3D.

The FLIP3D is an iPhone case that allows people to view side-by-side 3D video and photos via a flip-over pair of 3D glasses. To bring the gadget to market, the team of three are running a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo, to raise $40,000.

The RRP will be $39.99 and the Flip3D will be released alongside a 3D social photography app that allows users to create and share 3D pictures with each other. The app will show users how to take 3D photos with step by step instructions and a photo editor will allow users to take their existing 2D photos and add 3D elements to them. This could be floating text and animated stickers and a bevel/extrude tool will allow people to make 3D postcards out of any picture. The price for the social photo app is intended to be $1.99.

Joining that will be a free app called 3D Channel which will aggregate 3D photos and video from the Internet into one place.

For more information you can watch the video below or visit www.indiegogo.com/flip3d

Despite being a 2D phone, there have been other attempts to bring the ‘3D revolution’ to the popular smartphone. Spatial View launched the 3DeeSlide which converted the screen into an autostereoscopic display when used in conjunction with a 3DeeCentral app (3D Focus 3DeeSlide video review here). The $24.95 clip-on device is compatible with the official View-Master Digital3D app which launched on iTunes in March.

Similar to what is being proposed by FLIP3D, the Hasbro My3D uses two lenses to create the stereo 3D effect. Some My3D apps also offer 360 degree 3D viewing. By using the accelerometer and compass of the iPhone, people can look around virtual worlds in games such as MY3D 360° Sharks.

However, Sunny Sachdev came up with the idea of FLIP3D because the My3D was too bulky and impractical while the 3DeeSlide sacrificed image quality and had very limited viewing angles.