Following the launch of Google’s new Daydream View VR headset, YouTube today announced the launch of its standalone YouTube VR app, available for Daydream. The application puts all of YouTube’s content, even the videos that weren’t built with VR viewing in mind, within Google Daydream’s reach! The new YouTube app turns all of the platform’s massive content into an immersive experience.
Basically, YouTube VR will display standard videos in a virtual movie screen in the app’s new theater mode and combined with Google Daydream, the app will provide you with an immersive experience — regardless of the video you are watching. Just imagine watching all your favorite YouTube videos in 360 degree view!
Here are some pointers upon the functionality of the innovative new app:
- In the theater mode, the video itself fills the main portion of the screen.
- One side of the screen displays the Information on the video like the title and description.
- The other side of the screen displays your queue so you can see what’s coming up next.
- Player controls can be found down at the bottom of the screen.
- Users can sign in to their YouTube account to follow their subscriptions and view their playlists.
- Obvious features like voice search and support for spatial audio are also available.
According to Google, the app will also help the viewers watch and browse at the same time.
The company is also of the view that currently much of the content on YouTube is not optimized for VR, but this format will become a much more popular means of storytelling in the future. While obviously content optimized for VR will give you a better experience, you can also view the regular videos in theater mode through the brand new App.
Speaking about the launch of the app, Google said,
The company is investing in the technology by seeding the network with VR content. It has been helping YouTube creators gain access to VR equipment in YouTube Spaces, as well as learn how to use it to film in 360 degrees.
There is already a huge selection of videos available to watch in the new VR app from various different categories. Whether it is content from popular beauty blogger Meredith Foster, Tastemade’s cooking videos, HuffPost RYOT’s breaking news, or content from the Natural History Museum in London, the new application in collaboration with Daydream, can let you enjoy videos like never before.
However in order to be able to use the new app, a Daydream-ready phone,such as the recently launched Pixel, and the Daydream View headset is a prerequisite. That said though, the experience provided by this new app in combination with Daydream View and Pixel smartphones, is likely to be entirely next level. We will update this article once we have had a chance to try out the new application hands-on.
