Nat Geo expands VR capabilities with YouTube partnership
National Geographic has teamed up with YouTube to launch three virtual reality projects over the next year.
The Okavango Experience / Sam Wolson, National Geographic
The partnership, announced Wednesday (5 December), aims to give Nat Geo's global audience a new way to experience technology-enabled storytelling.
The first VR project is The Okavango Experience, a four-part series that goes live on 11 December. Each episode is about five minutes long and takes audiences into the wild of Africa's Okavango Delta.
"Embracing immersive content continues our tradition of going further, while connecting our audiences directly with our Explorers and the stories of the world they have to share," said Jenna Pirog, senior director of video and immersive experiences at Nat Geo. "We’re looking forward to a long-term partnership with YouTube that will allow us to remain industry stewards for marrying immersive technology with impactful storytelling."
As part of the long-term partnership, Nat Geo and YouTube will release two additional series in 2019.
The Okavango Experience will be accessible on Nat Geo's YouTube channel, its website, and its VR app on Google's Daydream platform. It can also be watched on desktop and mobile, even though it was created to be viewed in VR.
The series coincides with the 14 December TV premiere of Nat Geo's documentary Into the Okavango.
In November, Nat Geo used VR to promote the second season of its show Mars.