The 360° video app also features content from Beckham, Star Wars and Warner Bros.
UK’s largest pay-TV broadcaster, Sky, is launching their own mobile virtual reality app to showcase some of their best 360° video from Sky VR Studios and their partners.
Back in March, Sky gave us a first look at some of the VR content they have been creating across sports, news, movies and entertainment. Now they are bringing all that content into a brand new app, Sky VR, which is available to download for free on iOS and Android.
Some of the launch content from partners include Star Wars: Red Carpet, Anthony Joshua: Becoming World Champion and clips from Disney’s The Jungle Book.
To coincide with the app’s launch, Sky is also revealing two brand new VR experiences: Sky Sports: Closer featuring David Beckham. And, coming later this autumn, the first of a series of Sky exclusive commissions – a performance from English National Ballet’s production of Giselle ahead of its forthcoming UK tour.
In his second piece of VR content for Sky Sports, David Beckham is seen entering a Sky VR simulator, which takes you to sports events at the touch of a button. The footage was created in-house by the Sky VR Studios, in collaboration with Google.
Sky will be adding more content to the app over the coming months, hoping to introduce a slew of new consumers to virtual reality for the first time. To bring these immersive videos to as many people as possible, Sky will also be giving away thousands of Google Cardboard headsets to people visiting Sky Backstage at The O2 from October 20th.
At launch the Sky VR app is home to around twenty different pieces of 360-degree video content from Sky, Disney, Fox Innovation Lab, Warner Brothers, Baobab Studios, Jaunt, Innerspace and Surround Vision.
Content highlights in the app at launch include:
- Star Wars: Red Carpet (Sky Cinema) – get closer to the red carpet at the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Anthony Joshua: Becoming World Champion – see Anthony as you have never seen him before, as he becomes IBF world heavyweight champion
- Disney – two VR experiences from The Jungle Book, enabling viewers to get up close and personal with King Louie and Kaa
- Fox Innovation Lab – The Martian Sneak Peek – transports viewers to Mars to follow the film’s protagonist Mark Watney after he has been stranded on the planet
- Warner Brothers – Suicide Squad: Squad 360 – viewers can see what it’s like being a member of the Suicide Squad during a scene from the film
- Team Sky – Journey to the Tour – follow the team preparing for their third Tour de France
- F1 – Team Williams – lets fans go behind the scenes of the Williams team, in the pit lane and in car viewing
- Sky News – Calais: The Jungle – taking viewers to the centre of the refugee crisis with footage from inside ‘The Jungle’
- Baobab Studios – Invasion – a VR animation about a duo of aliens aiming to take over the world, but needing to overcome two fearsome white bunny rabbits
- Jaunt – Paul McCartney: Dance Tonight – Paul takes viewers through the charming creation story of this song, and its music video
Sky has been dabbling in VR since its 2013 investment in VR production company Jaunt. Since then, Sky has been carrying out testing across a range of events including an interview in VR with David Beckham and Kirsty Gallacher, which saw him select his top three Premier League goals.
