The Google Cardboard team has teamed up with Bank Of America and Visa to bring a new VR experience to Android and iOS. The subject is the New England Patriots and you’ll be able to immerse yourself in a practice they participate in.
To go along with the new experience, 10,000 customized Cardboard viewers are being handed out to fans at Gillette Stadium. This is yet another Cardboard giveaway meant to bring virtual reality front and center to the types of folks who could eventually be converted into VR believers. Think the New York Times giveaway.
Here’s the 360 degree video experience, you can use your mouse to manipulate the video to see what’s happening in all directions…or grab a Google Cardboard to view it (the new Samsung Gear VR browser will show it off quite nicely, too):
You’re taken into the training facility, onto the field and into the locker room with this experience. It was built on the STRIVR VR training platform. While the 360 degree video isn’t “true VR” it is that taste of a moment that can grab you for hours and make you forget where you are that I’ve been talking about. These moments will pile up and soon people are going to have a thirst for this type of content all of the time.
The brands dipping their toes in VR make it seem a little “faddish” but until enough people experience some type of immersive experience, virtual reality is destined to be a thing for gamers. It’s not. Every single person that I’ve watched try VR immediately wants more.
If you’re at the Patriots game today in which they plan on destroying my sad, crappy Philadelphia Eagles, you can grab a custom limited edition Google Cardboard viewer at the Patriots FanZone pregame or during the game.