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Samsung is making six TV series just for VR
With all the immersive games, films and documentaries available, there are plenty of interesting VR experiences for your headset. Samsung wants to make sure you'll never run out, announcing today its "Pilot Season." It's a "new initiative aimed at infusing exclusive original episodic Virtual Reality content into the Samsung VR Video service," according to the company. Starting today, you'll be able to watch pilot episodes of six new series on the Gear VR, and who knows, you may find your new favorite binge there.
Games like 'Augmented Empire' are why Gear VR needs a controller
If you've ever used a Samsung Gear VR before, you've probably found yourself awkwardly tapping the side of the headset to issue a command, or fumbling with its four-way touchpad to make a selection in a menu. This inelegant, embedded touch control is a necessary evil -- a compromise that allows the headset to be a self-contained VR experience free of the complicated peripherals and setup required of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. I struggled with its faults at Oculus' GDC demo day as I uncomfortably tapped my way through a battle in Augmented Empire. Holding my arm to the side of the headset, constantly rapping the side of it to direct characters and attack enemies, I thought that there had to be a better way to control a tactical RPG in virtual reality. Then somebody told me Samsung had announced a new Gear VR earlier that morning. One with a motion controller. That sounds so much better.
New York Times is making daily VR videos with Samsung's help
The New York Times isn't just dabbling in virtual reality for the occasional special presentation -- it wants to make 360-degree videos as commonplace as the crossword puzzle. The newspaper has launched The Daily 360, a feature that (shocker) offers "at least" one VR video every day, whether it's from a major news story or simply an interesting experience. The first Daily 360 illustrates the aftermath of a Saudi airstrike in Yemen (see it below), but other clips will cover everything from the final days of the US presidential election to Fashion Week.
Samsung is encouraging filmmakers to create VR experiences
Samsung has launched a new initiative called "Creators" to entice storytellers and filmmakers to spin VR and 360-degree tales that Gear VR users can enjoy. To start with, the Korean company has teamed up with YouTuber Casey Neistat to spotlight creators on the website who put out compelling 360-degree videos. They plan to show a curated list of works by those YouTubers at VidCon, where Samsung will also provide seminars and classes to filmmakers under the Creators program. VidCon is an annual online video conference in SoCal, which will take place from June 23rd to 25th this year.
