Do you love virtual reality or have some interest in its potential for journalistic use? The best place to start, without paying a dime, is by downloading a few apps on your mobile device. Try these out, explore a little bit, and see what you think. You don’t need a virtual reality headset or even the affordable Google Cardboard viewer to experience VR videos on your phone. Just download the apps and view the videos. If you do have Google Cardboard or a similar VR viewer, you can use those with most of these apps, too. I didn’t include the two most obvious apps, because you probably already have them, but make sure to try 360-degree videos on Facebook and YouTube. If you haven’t noticed yet, you can already view VR on these apps.

1. Vrse (iOS + Android) These are the folks behind some of the bigger New York Times VR projects that received a lot of attention lately. This app features the NYT projects such as The Displaced, but you can also find the short horror fiction piece Catatonic. A fun one to watch after you’ve scarred yourself with the horror film is Lucy Walker’s A Short History of Cuban Dance, which debuted at Sundance.
2. Littlstar (iOS + Android) This one is a bit more exciting. Their plan seems to be to become the Instagram of VR. You can make a profile, upload VR videos, like VR videos, scroll through a timeline, etc. You can already find videos from big names like ABC, NPR, the Kansas City Royals, etc. It will take some time to feel more authentic once actual, like, real people start sharing more content.
3. Vrideo (iOS + Android + Samsung Gear VR) Vrideo seems very similar to Littlstar but I would say it leans toward a YouTube feel. Yes, you can like and follow people, but it seems to be less of a community and more of a collection of channels. They use the term “subscribers” instead of “followers” (Littlstar uses “followers”) so maybe that’s why I’m getting the YouTube vibe.
4. RYOT (iOS + Android) RYOT is a news site that donates a portion of its earnings to non-profit causes. They have a VR app with two main sections: “Films” and “360 News.” As of today, the News section was filled with Iowa caucus content (even though today is Super Tuesday) but it’s safe to say they are invested in VR news since it accounts for 50% of their app’s categories! The Films section has a great documentary feel to it. Unlike the other apps, you don’t get much of a corporate branding influence, and one of the projects is a five minute collaboration with the Associated Press on “The Jungle,” the infamous refugee encampment in Calais, France.
5. Jaunt (iOS + Android) Jaunt is another slick one with travel, documentary, and corporate content mixed together. You can watch a funny promo for Zoolander 2, a Disneyland 60 promo, NHL hockey content, or a North Face piece shot in Nepal. CBS and ABC also make appearances in this app. Judging by all of the branded logos, there must be a fair amount of money flowing through this content, and probably the app. I assume that is a good sign for the app’s staying power, but as a source for news and information, it doesn’t have the same distinctive vibe as something like RYOT, or the next two apps.
6. WSJ (iOS + Android + Oculus Rift + Samsung Gear VR) The Wall Street Journal app is kind of convenient in that if you already have the regular news app on your phone, you can just open it up and scroll down to the “Virtual Reality” tab. Click on a few videos and learn about how Ikea rugs are made in India, etc. Pretty cool!
7. NYT VR (iOS + Android) I credit The New York Times with bringing VR journalism to the mainstream when it released The Displaced, an in-depth feature produced by NYT Magazine, along with free Google Cardboard viewers bundled into subscribers’ Sunday Times last November. The NYT VR app is nice, but single publications like NYT and WSJ are going to have a hard time keeping me coming back when they are so slow to add new content. Hopefully soon, budgets will swell with all of that post-Spotlight Oscar journalism love from viewers and advertisers 🙂 Hey, a guy can hope, right … ?