McDonald’s to offer ‘Happy Goggles’, a VR cardboard headset bundled with their Happy Meals

Everyone’s favourite junk food pit stop could just turn out to be the next place unsuspecting diner could experience virtual reality for the first time. In a report from Adweek, McDonald’s of Sweden will be offering happy meals where the box converts into a Google Cardboard like headset.

These ‘Happy Goggles’ are supposedly going to be part of a trial run of about 3,500 units and will be released at 14 restaurants in Sweden over the weekends of March 5 and March 12. The Happy Goggles meal will be priced at about $4.10.

Converting the familiar Happy Meals box into a VR headset simply involves tearing along the dotted lines, inserting the included lenses, and slotting a phone into the front.

Of course, the experience is expected to vary widely given the large variety of smartphones--between entry-level and high-end--that can be used with this rudimentary VR headset. Still, it could serve as an apt introduction into the whole VR experience for first-timers.

This launch ties in with the "Sportlov" Swedish holiday that sees families going on ski excursions  together. In going with this theme, the VR unit will include a special immersive ski-themed game called ‘Slope Stars’. The game will also be playable sans the VR experience as a regular phone app.

Besides the immersive visuals, it’s clear that the wearer may need to bear the smell of fries and burgers--we’re not sure how good or bad that is for the whole experience.