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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The New York Times has announced a collaboration with Google [nytimes.com] to deliver over 1 million Cardboard virtual reality viewers to NYT home delivery subscribers with their newspapers over the weekend of November 7 and 8. Online subscribers will receive a promo code by email that will allow them to claim a free Cardboard viewer. NYT will also create free VR content [tomshardware.com]:

The paper worked closely with IM360 [tomshardware.com] to create the NYT VR application. The app will be available for free for both iOS 8+ and Android 4.3+. It can be used with the Google Cardboard viewer, but a pair of VR googles is not required to view the video. NYTimes.com will host 2D versions of the videos, and 360-degree YouTube versions will be found on the company's YouTube channel.

The first video being released through NYT VR is a collaboration between The New York Times Magazine and Chris Milk at Vrse. Together, they created a film called The Displaced, which covers the story of three young children -- one from South Sudan, one from eastern Ukraine, and one from Syria -- who have been uprooted from their homes due to war in their regions. The story is captured with 360-degree cameras and taken from the perspective of these young children, depicting what they go through in their daily lives.

[...] "The power of VR is that it gives the viewer a unique sense of empathic connection to people and events," said Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief, The New York Times Magazine. "In the context of international reporting and conflict reporting, where our readers rely on us to bring them news and stories from remote and inaccessible places, this has huge potential. Through this immersive video experience, we can put our readers at the center of the most important story of our time."

NYT VR's second planned film is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The New York Times Magazine's Walking New York [nytimes.com] cover image. There will be a third video released on NYT VR in December and more in 2016, but we don't have any details about what those videos will be.

The app will be available on November 5th.

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