View-Master Hacked to Play 3D Video: Old Toy, New Trick

A few years ago we saw a View-Master that was upgraded with digital picture frame displays. Alec Smecher took the classic toy to the next logical progression. He bought a very old model of the View-Master and installed a pair of 0.9″ 96 x 64 OLED displays, a Raspberry Pi and a laptop CD-ROM drive on it. After a lot of hacking and programming, he was able to make it play 3D video.

view master 3d video player by alec smecher 620x465magnify

All of the electronics fit on the View-Master because this particular model has an attachment for a light bulb and two D batteries so that the toy could be used in low light. The Mini-CD actually sticks out of the top of the View-Master as it spins, a nod to the cardboard reels used with the toy. Alec also made the smallest possible modification to the case of the View-Master so that he could still restore it to its original state if he wanted to.

Alec says that his hack isn’t 100% done yet but as you saw in the video it does work. Check out Alec’s website for more details on his hack. I bet a lot of people would like it if Oculus VR released a View-Master case for the Rift.

[via Hack A Day]