The New York Times – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

August 3, 2017

The New York Times VR Now Available for Samsung Gear VR

As announced on the Oculus Blog, NYT VR is now available for users of Samsung Gear VR, featuring a full library of immersive virtual reality (VR) films from the New York Times.

In addition to the VR films created for the New York Times, Samsung Gear VR users will also have access to The Daily 360, a curated selection of 360-degree films from journalists all over the world that were created with Samsung Gear 360 cameras.

Various staff from the New York Times spoke about NYT VR and VR technology in general. Marcelle Hopkins, Deputy Director, Video and Co-Director, VR said: “VR has proven to be a valuable tool for journalism. With this immersive medium, we’re able to take our audience directly to the stories that matter—from an ice shelf in Antarctica to the frontline of Fallujah—to better understand the world around us.”

Graham Roberts, Director of Immersive Platforms Storytelling added: “Whether through powerfully written stories, affecting photography and video, or revealing interactive graphics, The New York Times has been transporting readers to help them make sense of the world for over 165 years. Now we have a new tool—virtual reality—that offers a compelling opportunity to transport, and to create meaning and connections. We are excited to continue our explorations and innovations within this new medium that further elevates our journalism to be ever more impactful and necessary.”

Finally, Varun Shetty, Executive Director, Strategy and Business Development said: “We’re excited to launch our NYT VR app on Oculus and Gear VR. Building a home for our our award-winning virtual reality journalism on the Oculus platform was a top priority for The Times in 2017. We’re looking forward to building a strong relationship with Oculus and working with them to push forward the virtual reality medium and news efforts within VR.”

VRFocus will keep you informed on new VR experiences and apps as they become available.

June 26, 2017

New York Times Sponsors VR Film Screening at SIGGRAPH

Well-known newspaper the New York Times will be sponsoring a special screening of virtual reality (VR) short film Under A Cracked Sky along with a special presentation on the New York Times’ integration of VR as part of SIGGRAPH 2017, a conference and exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques.

Director of Immersive platforms and storytelling for the New York Times will present a 40-minute talk on the mew medium of VR and how the New York Times is integrating the technology into its news reporting. The presentation will also include a showing of VR short film The Antarctica Series: Under A Cracked Sky.

“We are beyond thrilled to be welcoming Graham Roberts, the man who helped spearhead and establish the Times’ NYT VR program, to our conference this year,” said Jerome Solomon, conference chair for SIGGRAPH 2017. “Having a project with the pedigree and prestige of ‘Under A Cracked Sky’ truly establishes the fact that we continue to present our attendees with world-class material and technologies. I am certain people will enjoy Graham’s presentation and short film — after all, it doesn’t get more impressive than The New York Times!”

Graham Roberts notes, “VR is an incredible new tool that gives people a different perspective — it offers the feeling of full immersion within our news stories and reports. I see VR as an important change in the way in which people digest news and interact with the media: It’s a new paradigm through which people can experience brand-new perceptions of the world … it transports the viewer somewhere he or she has never been before.”

SIGGRAPH 2017 will be held on 30^th July – 2rd of August in Los Angeles. Further information and tickets can be found at the official SIGGRAPH website.

VRFocus will bring you further information on VR-related events as it becomes available.

April 7, 2017

Life In 360°: Insect Royalty In Mexico

Some weeks on ‘Li360’ we end up with something akin to a theme for the week, although with this last week the only theme we’ve had is that there simply hasn’t been one. From Wrestlemania on Monday to flying over Yosemite on Wednesday, we’re doing all sorts of things. We’re not even staying in America for today’s video, thus curtailing even that semblance of cohesion, and we’re again doing something different. This time we’re letting the world, and nature, move around us. As opposed to us moving through it.

We’re off to Michoacan in Mexico to a special butterfly reserve where monarch butterflies have arrived following a long migratory journey from Eastern Canada, a trip of up to 3000 miles for some. The video, produced by The New York Times and Samsung and entitled ‘Basking In Butterflies’ shows a number of locations around the biosphere where the butterflies are either resting or dancing about in the sunlight, zipping over your head and around you in a never ending dance.

It’s quite a sight.

VRFocus will be back on Monday of course with another example of 360 degree video.

January 13, 2017

Life In 360°: Walking New York

We begin our wrap up of things for the working week with our Friday issue of Life In 360°. Our thrice weekly trip out into the world via 360 degree video from any number of sources and focused on any number of things. Today we’re taking a trip over to America and arguably its most famous city – New York.

Courtesy of, appropriately enough, The New York Times and their NYT VR app we have have the nearly seven minute experience Walking New York. A production in conjunction with Wevr. However, it is not what you might necessarily think. I.e. a casual journey through New York’s streets, or maybe taking in various iconic locations in the city. Like the Empire State Building, or Central Park, the Chrysler Building or swinging past The Statue of Liberty. (We’ve done the latter before, as you might recall.) Instead this is a behind the scenes look as to how The New York Times Magazine’s Walking New York cover was created. Join artist JR in his studio as he describes the vision for the cover.

‘Li360’ will be back, of course, on Monday. Don’t forget to check out the rest of VRFocus today and over the weekend for news, videos and updates from the worlds of virtual and augmented reality.

January 5, 2017

IBM And The New York Times Unveil AR Experience ‘Outthink Hidden’

The New York Times’s (NYT) T Brand Studio in collaboration with IBM, has revealed the launch of a new augmented reality (AR) app called Outthink Hidden, inspired by the 20^th Century Fox film, Hidden Figures.

Hidden Figures recounts the true story of three female African American mathematicians as the heroes at NASA during the 1960s Space Race. Their groundbreaking calculations for spaceship trajectories, which helped put John Glenn in orbit, involved Dorothy Vaughan, who taught herself and others how to program a first-of its-kind IBM mainframe.

For Outthink Hidden, T Brand Studio explored the stories featured in the movie as part of 10 innovators in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Similar to a virtual museum, viewers will be able to explore an array of 3D computer graphics renderings, written histories and audio and video narratives.

Outthink Hidden

“IBM has a long history of commitment to STEM, and to fostering diversity, tolerance and inclusion, which is core to our company’s culture and values,” said Ann Rubin, Vice President, Branded Content and Global Creative, IBM. “We were inspired to use this app to share the stories of unsung STEM innovators who have changed the lives of people around the world.”

“We’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to tap into Fake Love’s wealth of talent and creativity when it comes to experiential storytelling,” said Sebastian Tomich, senior vice president, advertising & innovation, The New York Times. “We knew we couldn’t build The Times’s first AR experience just because we had the means to do it; we needed the right partner and the right story to tell. When we spoke to IBM about their work with ‘Hidden Figures, we recognized that this was an opportunity to bring users into the experience of the film and the remarkable women it showcases.”

The AR experience is available via the T Brand Studio AR app for free, via either iTunes or Google Play. The AR content can be activated on a mobile device at IBM.com/hiddenfigures, through select print editions of The New York Times, or at physical plinths at CES 2017 in Las Vegas this week. In addition, the content can be activated at one of 150 “geofenced” locations across the US.

These locations include popular tourist spots in 10 cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta and Houston); notable STEM centers and STEM universities.

For further AR coverage from around the world, keep reading VRFocus.

January 1, 2017

Life In 360°: All Aboard!

Welcome to 2017 and the first Life In 360° for the new year. So what has VRFocus chosen as its first immersive video of 2017, a hard hitting political documentary maybe? Something on climate change? Animals close to extinction? Oh no we’re starting a little easier than that with a ride along on The Flying Scotsman, a famous British steam train that’s recently been renovated and put back into service.

Created by filmmakers Drew Gardner, Samantha Quick, and Maureen Towey for The New York Times’, The Daily 360 on YouTube, the video begins by putting viewers directly on the front of the locomotive as it hurtles through the British countryside.

Train aficionados should know The Flying Scotsman as its a highly popular model featured in many train sets. They’ll now be able to see inside the train, watching as the engine is stoked with coal.

Check back tomorrow for VRFocus’ last daily Life In 360° as we revert back to normal scheduling.

December 26, 2016

Life In 360°: There’s Snow Substitute

Welcome to December the 26th. I hope you’re all recovered from the festivities of the day before and didn’t overindulge. Well, not too much anyway. Before you ask, no, there is no boxing related video for Boxing Day. We are in the world of sport however and we are again on our travels, this time off to South America and Huacachina in Peru – and something close to the opposite of what we followed last week in San Franscisco.

The 360 degree video, courtesy of the The New York Times, follows a group of teenagers who desperately want to snowboard. However, if your geography is on point you’ll be aware that whilst snow can be found in Peru it certainly isn’t everywhere. That doesn’t stop an inventive mind however, and so if there’s no snow the teens make do with something else.

Sand.

VRFocus will be back tomorrow with another 360 degree video.

November 1, 2016

The New York Times to Publish Daily 360° Videos Using Samsung Gear 360’s

Towards the end of 2015 The New York Times (NYT) entered the virtual reality (VR) arena with a bang, launching its NYT VR app for iOS and Android devices alongside a massive promotional giveaway of Google Cardboard headsets. Today the news outlet announced the launch of The Daily 360, a new digital journalism project in partnership with Samsung.

The Daily 360, produced by The Times newsroom will deliver at least one 360-degree video everyday. Samsung has provided NYT journalists around the world with Gear 360 cameras and equipment to use while reporting.

The Daily 360 - Sana Screenshot

The first video available today takes viewers to Sana, Yemen to see the first-hand effects of the ongoing conflict there. The footage was shot by New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Tyler Hicks and Times Middle East correspondent Ben Hubbard.

“From Snowfall to The Upshot to The Displaced, the award-winning VR film that blazed the trail in VR journalism, The Times has been the leader in visual digital storytelling,” said Dean Baquet, executive editor, The New York Times. “Whether The Times is on the campaign trail, the front lines of Aleppo, or in the front row at Fashion Week, The Daily 360 brings you there to bear witness with us.”

The project aims to be the first attempt at daily 360-degree reporting from a major publication. In the run up to this months presidential election, NYT correspondents will be producing footage from both the campaign trail and from the main battleground locations.

“It’s because of Samsung’s support and filming technology that we’re able to give global audiences a true sense of what it means when The New York Times is covering the breadth of what’s happening in the world,” added Meredith Kopit Levien, executive vice president and chief revenue officer, The New York Times Company. “Last year we delivered the VR experience to the masses, along with dozens of VR films since then, but now it’s time to make 360 video a part of the daily news report, as common as text or interactives.”

The Daily 360 will be published on multiple platforms, including NYTimes.com, its mobile and VR apps, as well as to Samsung VR.

“Virtual reality storytelling isn’t just exciting and immersive, it can forge a lasting and empathetic connection between viewers and subjects,” said Marc Mathieu, chief marketing officer at Samsung Electronics America. “In collaborating with The New York Times, we want Samsung’s innovative products and services to show how coverage of the world’s most important stories can be made richer, more useful, and more human when augmented by 360-degree experiences.”

For all the latest VR news from NYT, keep reading VRFocus.