NYT VR

iPhone, Android

Teaches: current events, news, spatial relations

CTR Rating: 92.5%

CTR Review

This is the app that made history on Sunday, Nov 8, 2015 with the help of the New York Times Sunday newspaper (disclaimer, CTR is an occasional paid content provider to the New York Times). The app was created for the New York Times by IM360 (www.immersivemedia.com) and it is specifically designed for small screen iOS or Android devices, of the variety that can fit inside one of the Google Cardboard VR viewers that was distributed by the New York Times on Sunday. The app is small and easy to download, because it is merely a video player. The actual videos can be viewed without a viewer; an option you make before you start the download. Because the videos can be large, you want to make sure you're using Wi-Fi at that start of the process. This particular version contails a video called "The Displaced" which looks at the lives of three refugee children. Other videos include "The Food Drop" and "Walking New York" (the latter about a large-scale sidewalk mural project. Mark Schlichting commented on Facebook that the app is good and the audio great. He wrote "I don't think we have a name for this kind of interactivity yet, it's more like steering a car around town than playing tennis. I guess this where "Interactive TV" has been heading for years, and now it's here." Make sure you explore the "Frequently Asked Question" part of the app and follow the links to some of the other VR-related videos. One of these is YouTube 360 with videos that can be explored with either a mouse or a viewer. See https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzuqhhs6NWbgTzMuM09WKDQ