The New York Times has announced on Tuesday their latest partnership with Google, which will include the distribution of more than a million Google Cardboard VR viewers to subscribers.
Home delivery subscribers of the New York Times will receive a Google Cardboard viewer with their Nov. 7 weekend newspaper delivery. In addition, Times Insider subscribers and some digital subscribers will also receive codes by email to redeem for a free viewer.
The Times is distributing the million viewers to promote the Nov. 5 launch of their NYT VR app, created in collaboration with VR studio IM360. Once subscribers put together their Google Cardboard viewer, assuming all these newspaper readers are willing to try out some new technology, they can join in downloading the NYT VR app on their smartphone.
The NYT VR app will debut with the film titled “The Displaced,” chronicling the resilience of three children uprooted by war, all through the lens of virtual reality. Having created the film in collaboration with Chris Milk and his virtual reality company Vrse, The Times will take viewers into the daily lives of these children, in a much-needed look into the global refugee crisis.
Vrse is also responsible for many other powerful empathy driving virtual reality films like Clouds over Sidra and Waves of Grace. Earlier this the year we reported on Vrse’s collaboration with the New York Times Magazine for Walking New York. The NYT VR app is expected to feature a good amount of editorial content produced with Vrse, as well as sponsored content from GE and Mini.
With over a million viewers to be distributed in early November, a new group of consumers will be introduced to Google Cardboard for the first time. Whether their introduction to VR viewers comes from The Times or something like a Google Cardboard certified Mattel View-Master, more users is a good thing, and content from Vrse on the NYT VR app is a great way to open newcomer’s eyes to the future of VR storytelling.
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