The New York Times VR app took me inside the news
I’m standing in the center of a rubble-filled classroom. The floor is ankle deep in books with overturned desks jutting up like volcanic islands in a sea of literature. At the chalkboard, a young boy is writing something. It’s difficult to see what he’s writing on the one item that establishes that kids used to learn in this room. I do know that the boy’s name is Oleg and he’s one of three child subjects of the New York Times’ VR app (NYT VR) lead story, The Displaced. He starts telling me his story and I’m spinning trying to take in the virtual environment the publication has dropped me in. Everything is fuzzy at first while I adjust my iPhone in the Google Cardboard headset. Then after a few adjustments, everything lines up. It’s not crystal clear, but the story starts to unfold without the technology getting too much in the way. That should be the end game for The New York Times. Tell stories without the tech getting in the way. The app is a good — yet gimmicky — start, but it’ll need more adjustments to bring it into focus and really change the way we get our news.
Source: NYT
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