The New York Times unveils its new AR experience for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

The NYT just debuted its first augmented reality experience: a preview piece for the Winter Olympics, enabling readers to meet world-class Olympic athletes–including figure skater Nathan Chen, big air snowboarder Anna Gasser and short track speed skater J.R. Celski–as if they were paused in mid-performance.

NYT readers are now able to meet world-class Olympic athletes–including figure skater Nathan Chen, big air snowboarder Anna Gasser and short track speed skater J.R. Celski–as if they were paused in mid-performance
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According to the NYT, using a smartphone camera, AR storytelling gives users the chance to explore information in new ways, with less swiping and clicking and more movement and gestures, and invites readers to engage with journalism like never before.

The New York Times just debuted its first augmented reality experience: a preview piece for the Winter Olympics
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“There’s no question that these are early days for AR, but our work so far suggests that this emerging technology has real potential to help our readers experience the news differently, helping them understand the world more deeply,” says Steve Duenes, assistant masthead editor at The New York Times.

“The Times has been among the most innovative digital storytellers for many years. On desktop, mobile, in our exploration of data visualization and other forms of visual journalism, including virtual reality, we’ve been committed to creating the most compelling and vibrant report possible, and this experiment in AR is a part of that,” adds Duenes. “We cover today’s most compelling news events from around the world, and now our readers can get closer to these stories and subjects, from a possible border wall to a figure skater’s quadruple jump. They can take in the size, shape and details of the objects at the center of our coverage.”

Ralph Lauren, an Official Outfitter of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams, also gives readers the chance to see Team USA ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani in AR as they model the official Ralph Lauren Team USA Opening Ceremony Parade uniforms. T Brand Studio collaborated with Ralph Lauren on the creative design and concept to enhance user-experience. The Ralph Lauren AR interactive, which was produced by New York Times Company experiential design agency Fake Love, is the first AR experience from an advertiser to live inside The New York Times app for iOS.

NYT readers can get closer to these stories and subjects with AR, from a possible border wall to a figure skater's quadruple jump. They can take in the size, shape and details of the objects at the center of the coverage
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“In continuing to explore and support innovation across all aspects of our business, we partnered with The New York Times to launch the cutting-edge Olympics AR experience, we’re excited to build innovative ideas that bring the Olympics to life for the consumer in new and exciting ways,” said David Lauren, the company’s chief innovation officer.

The New York Times developed the AR experience leveraging Apple’s ARKit, which is now available to hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads users with devices running iOS 11. They also say the experience will be coming to Android soon, built with ARCore. A comprehensive guide to AR at The Times is available here.

The New York Times developed the AR experience on Apple’s ARKit, which is now available to hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads users with devices running iOS 11. Thehe experience will also be coming to Android ARCore soon
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For companies looking to leverage Augmented Reality and other immersive technologies, Tech Trends offers a comprehensive range of Virtual Reality Consultancy services 

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Experience the Winter Olympics in Augmented Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.

The world and his wife are jumping on the VR bandwagon, and that means we’re seeing a lot more interesting content emerging every day.

Much of this is 360 video, which is the easiest to produce, but also the most limited in terms of interaction – you can look around the scene presented to you, but you can’t actually influence how the action unfolds.

360 video is the most common type of VR content but also the most limited in terms of interaction
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To keep users engaged and enjoying that content for longer, building more interactivity into those experiences is key. That’s what Virtual Reality production company YouVisit is doing in partnership with West Hollywood visitors bureau.

“Unlike traditional 360-degree videos that simply show a location, we give viewers the power to choose their own path and explore the areas they are interested in,” explains Abi Mandelbaum, CEO and cofounder of YouVisit

Viewers the power to choose their own path and explore the areas they're interested in
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The West Hollywood Experience takes viewers beyond 360 video and turns the city into an interactive playground, enabling you to choose which paths you explore, and which locals you talk to.

“In the past, West Hollywood has fallen victim to stereotypes about what the city is like and the types of people it caters to. Putting the experience in the viewer’s hands makes them an active participant in VR and helps them create an intimate connection with what they are seeing. For Visit West Hollywood, this means prospective travelers can explore the city by bike, jump into a high-intensity dodgeball game or get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the area’s top restaurants,” says Mandelbaum

The travel sector is fast catching on to the fact that VR will become an essential part of their toolkit in future, not only enabling “try before you buy” use cases, but making it possible for those who cannot physically visit places to still experience what makes them special.

This goes beyond straightforward tours, and allows creative content producers to dig deeper and present users with a different angle on a place; something they might not have experienced as a tourist. One example of this is the FT’s The City Within documentary which explores the social dynamics of Rio’s Favelas as part of its Hidden City VR experience, recently launched in partnership with Google.

West Hollywood Experience turns the city into an interactive playground
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“The world of VR has presented amazing opportunities to showcase properties, events and now entire destinations,” adds Jaimie du Bois, Director of Business Development for Visit West Hollywood   When working with the team at YouVisit, we were able to conceptualise and create a unique VR experience that allows visitors, travel agents and even residents to see a different side of West Hollywood through six separate vignettes. This experience can be showcased on our website and social media channels, but it’s also a great training tool to take on the road for trade shows and sales missions,” she concludes

You Can experience West Hollywood in all its VR Glory here

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Less Camera, More Action: Exploring Hollywood in Virtual Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.