I admit that I was excited the moment I returned from a Central Park run Saturday morning, only to find the yellow plastic wrapped package of The New York Times at my doorstep. Immediately my eyes went to the small, beige cardboard box included in the package that normally includes the pre printed sections of the Sunday newspaper.
Alas, the Times introduced its virtual reality storytelling, along with the Google Cardboard Viewer, to accompany a touching story about children who have been displaced because of war and the global refugee crisis.
It took me mere minutes to assemble my Cardboard Viewer, download the NYT VR app and then get my iPhone attached to the Viewer to be totally inmersed in the story.
As I wrote on Twitter: The gray old lady has not just adapted and accepted the onset of new storytelling techniques, but it has embraced them with marvelous gusto. I am sure we will see more virtual reality stories in the future, and not just with The Times. I am also certain that advertisers are taking notice.
Storytelling has a new, vibrant partner. Let's get those Cardboard Viewer glasses on and sample a world that we had no idea existed. As the Times promotes its Virtual Reality mode:
“Changing the Way Stories are Told”.
Here Jens Jørgen Madsen, of Denmark’s Berlingske newspaper, happened to be in New York City when the Times launched its virtual reality app and sampled it right away.
Related: in Spanish
For those who read Spanish, our colleague Rodrigo Fino, president of Garcia Media Latinamerica (Buenos Aires), writes about the New York Times' virtual reality introduction in his blog.
Para aquellos que leen en español, nuestro colega Rodrigo Fino, presidente de Garcia Media Latinamerica (Buenos Aires), escribe en su blog sobre el ingreso del New York Times en el tema de la realidad virtual.
Go here:
http://www.garcia-media.com.ar/blog/post/la-virtualidad-real/251
Columbia Journalism School: Virtual Reality Report
For those interested in VR, there will be a new report presented at Columbia University's School of Journalism by Tow Center research Fellows Fergus Pitt and Taylor Owen.
The program, Virtual Reality Journalism: Diverse Applications for a Growing Medium, will be Nov. 11 from 4 to 8 pm. at the Brown Institute, ground floor of the Journalism School (Broadway and 116th St., in New York City).
This event will comprise a panel discussion regarding Pitt and Owen’s report, a discussion of the potential applications that VR technologies provide journalists, and a showcase of Virtual Reality projects related to Journalism.
If interested, contact Smitha Khorana: sk3808@columbia.edu