Official Blog
More VR in more places
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
We love VR at YouTube because it’s a powerful way to see and experience the world. Have you ever wondered what it’s like in the ice caves of Antarctica? How about underneath the Victoria Falls or courtside at the NBA Finals? Virtual Reality lets you experience these moments as if you’re actually there. When you have questions about the world, it can transport you to where the answers are.
During the last three years I’ve spent working on YouTube VR, I’ve loved seeing how our creators use this emerging technology to tell stories, share experiences, and make visible things that have previously been left unseen. With a lot of new things happening in VR today, I thought I’d take a moment to share with you a few of the things I’m most excited about: bringing our app to new platforms; adding new features and tools that make VR feel even more immersive; and exclusive new content that can bring you to more places.
Experience YouTube VR on Samsung Gear VR, powered by Oculus
We want everyone with a VR headset to be able to experience YouTube VR. It’s already available on Daydream View, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. Starting today, we’re expanding access to millions of people with Gear VR headsets. You’ll be able to download the app from the Oculus Store for free starting this week.
Share your VR experience with the YouTube community
We believe that one of the best ways to experience VR is with other people. So today we’re introducing a new feature in the YouTube VR app that lets you watch and discuss videos with others in a communal, virtual space.
This new feature can be accessed from the YouTube VR app by clicking on the “Watch Together” icon beneath the play controls from your Daydream View or Gear VR.
Enjoy new, exclusive VR content
YouTube VR is already home to more than 800,000 experiences in the virtual world, and this summer, we’ll bring you more exclusive experiences.
If music is your thing, you’ll be able to tag along backstage with
Portugal. The Man
and
Hayley Kiyoko
as they prepare to go on stage, and get a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of some of our other favorite musicians through the VR180 Rockstar VR series.
You’ll also be able to spend a day with global female leaders, including activist, entrepreneur, and Olympic bronze medalist in fencing,
Ibtihaj Muhammad
, the first Muslim-American woman to wear a hijab while competing for the U.S. in the Olympics on a new episode of our
The Female Planet
series
.
If action videos are more your speed,
SoKrispyMedia
puts you in the middle of a video game, where you can race to escape a digital world before a glitch traps you there forever.
VR can take you anywhere, and YouTube VR can bring you to more places in the virtual world than anywhere else. I’ve never been more excited about the next places VR storytellers, explorers and the community will take us -- letting us experience them as if we’re actually there.
Erin Teague, VR Product Lead, recently watched “
After Solitary 360
.”
YouTube VR: A whole new way to watch… and create
Thursday, November 10, 2016
We’re inspired every day by the videos people share on YouTube. The idea that anybody, from any part of the globe, can create something that all of us can watch, laugh at, cry to, or relate to. Not only has this turned YouTube into a home for just about any idea imaginable, it’s made it the place where
new video formats
,
new ways to connect
, and
new ways to tell stories
are born.
We want to continue to provide you with new ways to engage with the world and with your community, and we believe virtual reality will play an important role in the future of storytelling. More than just an amazing new technology, VR allows us to make deep, human connections with
people
,
places
and
stories
. That’s why we’re committed to giving creators the space and resources they need to learn about, experiment with, and create virtual reality video. In fact, we’ve already started working with some awesome creators, recording artists, and partners who are producing VR videos across a wide variety of genres and interest areas on YouTube.
Want to spend some time with beauty vlogger
Meredith Foster
? Check out an immersive tour of her apartment. More of a foodie?
Tastemade’s
VR cooking videos breathe new life into learning new recipes.
Rooster Teeth
reimagines their gaming comedy “Red vs. Blue” for some fresh laughs. You can even watch breaking news in VR from
HuffPost RYOT
.
We’ve also been working to allow you to have experiences or visit places you might not be able to (or might not dare to!) in real life. Go swimming with sharks thanks to
Curiscope
, get a first-hand look at a living, breathing dinosaur at the
Natural History Museum in London
, travel to Belize with
StyleHaul
, hike a trail a thousand miles away with Daniel and Kelli at
Fitness Blender
, or watch
Tritonal
in concert no matter where you are.
And today you can experience all of this amazing content in a more immersive way with the brand new YouTube VR app,
available first on Daydream
. This new standalone app was built from the ground up and optimized for VR. You just need a Daydream-ready phone like Pixel and the new
Daydream View
headset and controller to get started. Every single video on the platform becomes an immersive VR experience, from 360-degree videos that let you step inside the content to standard videos shown on a virtual movie screen in the new theater mode. The app even includes some familiar features like voice search and a signed in experience so you can follow the channels you subscribe to, check out your playlists and more.
We can’t tell you how inspired we all are after watching the amazing VR videos made by creators on YouTube. We can't wait to see what you dream up next!
Erin Teague, Product Manager, and Jamie Byrne, Director of YouTube Creators, recently watched "
Tour of Man At Arms: Reforged Shop in 360° - The Forging Room!
"
A YouTube experience like nothing you've seen before
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Ever wish you could swim with
sharks
, ride in an
Indy Car
, or go on a
world tour
? Well, later this year you’ll be able to experience these events and more as if you were really there with the YouTube VR app.
For more than a year, we’ve been adding support for new video and audio formats on YouTube like 360-degree video, VR video and Spatial Audio. These were the first steps on our way toward a truly immersive video experience, and now we're taking another one with the YouTube VR app for
Daydream
, Google's platform for high-quality mobile virtual reality,
announced
today at Google I/O.
We’re creating the YouTube VR app to provide an easier, more immersive way to find and experience virtual reality content on YouTube. It also comes with all the YouTube features you already love, like voice search, discovery, and playlists, all personalized for you, so you can experience the world's largest collection of VR videos in a whole new way.
And thanks to the big, early bet we made on 360-degree and 3-D video, you will be able to see all of YouTube’s content on the app—everything from classic 16x9 videos to 360-degree footage to cutting-edge VR experiences in full 3-D. Whether you want a front row seat to your favorite concert, access to the best museums in the world, or a midday break from work watching your favorite YouTube creator, YouTube VR will have it all.
To bring even more great VR content onto YouTube, we’ve been working with some amazing creators to experiment with new formats that offer a wide range of virtual experiences. We’re already collaborating with the NBA, BuzzFeed and Tastemade to explore new ways of storytelling in virtual environments that will provide valuable lessons about the way creators and viewers interact with VR video. Stay tuned!
We’ve also been working with camera partners to make Jump-ready cameras, such as the GoPro Odyssey, available to creators, to help make the production of VR video more accessible. And today, we’re officially launching our Jump program at the YouTube Spaces in L.A. and NYC and we will it bring to all
YouTube Space locations
around the globe soon.
We’re just beginning to understand what a truly immersive VR experience can bring to fans of YouTube, but we’re looking forward to making that future a (virtual) reality.
Kurt Wilms, Senior Product Manager, YouTube Virtual Reality, recently watched "
Insane 360 video of close-range tornado near Wray, CO yesterday!
"
Labels
3D
4k
accessibility
account info
activism
ads
africa
annotations
arts
awards
benefit
betas
bizblog
blogs
bulletins
buzz
captions
celebrity playlists
channels
chrome
citizen journalism
citizen reporting
citizentube
comedy
comments
community
community guidelines
contests
creator's corner
creators
curators
customization
dance
design
discovery
doodle
editor
education
embeds
entertainment
events
facebook
film
flagging
gaming
gmail
google
google tv
government
grants
groups
guidelines
hd
help center
holidays
homepage
howto
inspiration
investment
jobs
journalism
life in a day
live stream
marketing
meetups
mobile
moderator
movies
music
musicians wanted
news
nonprofits
open-source
partners
playlists
policy
politics
privacy
product update
quicklist
ratings
rentals
research
safety
science and technology
screening room
search
sharing
shows
social networks
sports
staff
stats and data
store
subscriptions
tags
test tube
travel
trends
tv
twitter
upload
vevo
video editing
video production
video volunteers
viral video
youtube api
youtube direct
Archive
2020
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2019
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2018
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2017
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2016
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2006
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2005
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Feed
Follow @youtube
Follow
Learn more in the
YouTube Help Center
.
Follow