New York: Want to experience the ongoing refugee crisis first hand? You won’t have to travel to war-torn places for this, thanks to the New York Times’ new virtual reality app that transports the readers(virtually only) to the story locales.
After an October announcement of a partnership with Google to produce virtual reality (VR) films, the New York Times has launched its new VR app – called NYT VR – on Thursday, Mashable reported.
The app debuted with two feature films, one titled “The Displaced” tells the story of three children swept up in the world’s refugee crisis, and the other shows making of a recent Times Magazine cover.
It’s one thing to read about the refugee crisis, but being placed right in these war-torn worlds, able to look around at the people and the environment, changes your perspective substantially.
Similarly, it’s easy to admire Times Magazine “Walking New York” cover, but seeing the artist photograph from a helicopter above Manhattan will take away your breath.
The purpose behind the app is to bring the readers to the story, not just report on it from a distance, according to the NYT.
The paper would be publishing content to the app once a month or so.
IANS