Branded VR Video With No App Required: OmniVirt Shows the Way

Brands are rushing to create virtual reality (VR) or 360-degree video experiences for their followers, and for the most part those videos are accessible through apps. That's a problem. First, you've got to get people to download the correct app. Then, they need to watch the video using a VR headset.

Last week, Lexus worked with the virtual reality specialists at OmniVirt to offer a better VR experience, one that could be viewed in three different ways. The video, which highlights NASA's mission control center and offers a view from space, was embedded on The Washington Post's site. Viewers could load the video right on the page with a tap, then pan around the 360-degree spaces.

If viewers were using a phone, the video filled the screen. Viewers then looked around by moving their phone up and down or side to side. Finally, Samsung phone owners with Gear VR headsets could snap their phones into their headsets while the video was on and experience the scenes in an immersive way.

"The challenge today for brands and marketers investing in virtual reality is distribution and discovery," says an entry on the OmniVirt blog. "By enabling a publisher like The Washington Post and a brand like Lexus to drive discovery of a fully immersive VR experience right from an embed with no need to download a special VR app we believe we are paving the wave for virtual reality to become even more mainstream."

OmniVirt has served over 30 million VR impressions, notes company CEO Brad Phaisan. Other clients include The New York Times and Vice.

This isn't Lexus's first experiment with VR, by the way. At the 2015 Geneva Motor Show it debuted Lexus Virtual Drive, which immersed the viewer in a thrilling car race. That video was created by Hammerhead VR. For the Lexus NX launch, it worked with Rewind to create a VR car configurator and simulator .

For more on what the NASA experience looked like, watch the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kRYHsbkeT8

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net