USA Today Straps In for Second Season of Virtual Reality Show

USA Today Network

Gannett is taking being in the news to a whole new level. The newspaper company’s USA Today Network announced Tuesday that it is bringing back virtual reality news experience “VRtually There” for a second season.

“VRtually There” is a weekly show that gives viewers a fully immersive look at events and moments ranging from a climb in an Arizona desert canyon to being smack-dab in the middle of a political protest. The program debuted in October and reeled in more than 10 million views.

The first episode of Season 2, which premiered today at 9:30 a.m. ET (the rest of the weekly episodes go live at 4 p.m.), will bring viewers along for a hang gliding trip in Hawaii, a ride on the Goodyear Blimp, and face-to-face with giant elephant seals.

Also Read: Here's the Big Virtual Reality Problem That No One Can Ignore

The second season of “VRtually There” will run through July, and the weekly VR experiences are available on the USA Today app, YouTube app, Google Play store, Google’s Daydream and on YouTube.

“With over 10 million views of ‘VRtually There,’ we are bringing together amazing advances in VR technology and an even higher ambition to tell the most gripping stories and bring new experiences to our audience in VR,” executive producer David Hamlin, said in a statement. “We are focused on five content areas that we know our audience enjoyed based on prior performance, and are even more unique and thrilling for viewers.”

These Virtual-Reality Films at Tribeca Hint How Far VR Can Go (Photos)

Short film "Sens" is the first project to adapt a graphic novel into a virtual reality.
Joan E. Solsman
"Sens" leads viewers on a black-and-white journey, in which the point of view alternates between exploring a strange landscape through the main character's eyes and floating above the character, watching him do things like grip an edge of a cliff.
Sens
"Deep VR" combines a underwater fantasy world with a specialized belt the viewer wears around the waist, which monitors deep breathing. You control your movement in the experience by breathing in and out deeply, causing an initial rush of oxygen to the brain followed by a Zen-like meditative calm as you continue to play.
Joan E. Solsman
"Deep VR" is set in an underwater seascape, and is meant to explore the ways in which VR can change our relationship with both body and mind.
Joan E. Solsman
"The Turning Forrest" is a virtual-reality tale that takes viewers on a journey with a fantasy beast. At the Tribeca Film Fest's main hub, the creators bring viewers into hut before immersing them in the experience.
Joan E. Solsman
"The Turning Forrest" is a fully computer-generated movie, but the creators combined the viewing of it with a rumble pack that viewers wear to feel percussions that match the action.
BBC R&D / VRTOV
"Notes on Blindness" is a VR film that images the internal visions of John Hull, who -- after losing his sight in 1983 -- began recording an audio-diary documenting his discovery of “a world beyond sight.” His original recordings form the basis of this interactive experience, which uses real time 3D, virtual reality, and binaural sound to explore the interior world of blindness.
"Notes on Blindness"
"6X9: An Immersive Experience of Solitary Confinement" attempts to explain the effects solitary confinement of prisons, people who spend 22-24 hours a day in their cells, with little to no human contact.
Joan E. Solsman
"6x9" put virtual-reality viewers inside a cell, to hint at how the sensory deprivation prisoners live with can cause psychological damage.
Guardian