A new 360-degree video from Oculus brings you to the historic national park with President Barack Obama at your side. Available on the Oculus Store for Gear VR with Rift coming soon. If neither of those are an option, you can still click-and-drag on your computer and see what’s going on. The 11-minute 360-degree immersive video provides an “up-close-and-personal look” at Obama’s trip, allowing you to follow his movements through the park.
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President Obama’s Marine One helicopter lands in Ahwahnee Meadow in Yosemite National Park in this screen grab from “Through the Ages: President Obama Celebrates America’s National Parks”.
Felix Lajeunesse, co-founder of Felix and Paul Studios, said in a statement that filmmakers were inspired by the idea that national parks were originally established for all people at all times.
The “virtual reality film” was apparently made this summer while the the First Family helped ring in the National Park Service’s 100th birthday.
Obama recapped his Yosemite adventure in a Facebook post Thursday and said that the park was “without a doubt, one of the most stunning places I’ve ever seen”, while encouraging US citizens to partake in this year’s centennial by exploring numerous lovely parks in their neighborhoods and around the country. Today, explore the first-ever virtual reality experience with the First Family in celebration of the National Park Centennial. It’s created to send a message to future generations that National Parks need to be preserved and maintained.
Whilst the debate may rage over the tedious semantics of whether 360 video “is or isn’t “real” VR”, there’s no denying that 360 video presentations when shot expertly can be a worthy addition to a VR headset’s content lineup.
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Virtual reality is getting the presidential treatment.
