Official Blog
YouTube presses play on virtual reality
Thursday, November 5, 2015
If we’ve learned anything in the past 10+ years at YouTube it’s that capturing and sharing videos is a great way to bring people there with you—whether “there” is an
Icelandic glacier
, a
special performance
by violinist Tim Fain, or just a friend’s birthday party.
Virtual reality (VR) makes the experience of being there even more awesome and immersive, so today we’re bringing two new VR features to YouTube’s Android app. All you need is your current phone, and a
Google Cardboard
viewer.
First, YouTube now supports
VR video
—a brand new kind of video that makes you feel like you’re actually there. Using the
same
tricks
that we humans use to see the world, VR video gives you a sense of depth as you look around in every direction. Near things look near, far things look far. So if you were excited about
360° videos
, this is pretty freakin’ cool.
To give it a try just find a VR video on YouTube—like the
Hunger Games Experience
or
TOMS Shoes Giving Trip
—tap the new Cardboard icon, drop your phone into your Cardboard viewer, and you’re off! If you’re a creator, you can also check out technologies like
Jump
to capture and share your own VR videos.
Check out this and more VR videos here
Our second bit of news is for the universe of existing YouTube content. And that’s the fact that you can now watch any video using Google Cardboard, and experience a kind of virtual movie theater. Just select the new “Cardboard” option from the watch page menu, drop your phone into your viewer, and you’re done. You’ll now have the largest VR content library right at your fingertips.
Both of today’s updates make it easier to be there. In some cases, really there there. So download the new YouTube app from
Google Play
, and get going.
Kurt Wilms, Senior Product Manager, YouTube VR recently watched “
Waves of Grace
”, Sanjeev Verma, YouTube Product Manager, recently watched “
LA Phil: The Orchestra VR Video Experience
” and Husain Bengali, Product Manager, Jump recently watched “
Apollo 11 moon landing
.
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