Tag Archives: YouTube VR

More VR in more places

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.”

Source: YouTube Blog


YouTube VR: A whole new way to watch… and create

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.


YTVR-Watch-Spherical-Player.jpg

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!"

Source: YouTube Blog


A YouTube experience like nothing you’ve seen before

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!"

Source: YouTube Blog