A brand new Google Cardboard virtual reality (VR) headset will be bundled with over 1 million hot-off-the-press print edition newspapers delivered to the homes of The New York Times (NYT) subscribers, during the weekend of November 7. Some digital subscribers and insiders of the Big Apple's best-selling daily paper will get emailed promo codes to enjoy the giveaway. As part of the partnership Google, GE, and Mini will be producing virtual reality films for the viewer's NYT VR app, which has an iOS App Store and Google Play November 5 release date.
Google Cardboard is a VR headset that holds a smartphone in front of its two lenses. After installing a special mobile app users can hold the gadget up to their face and look through the lenses to see a VR image.
NYT will be producing three documentary films this year, and others during 2016. The first one people can watch in the virtual world is "The Displaced." It tells the stories of global war refugees in Syria, Sudan, and Ukraine, according to PC Mag.
Dean Baquet is NYT's Executive Editor. He praised the film as the first "serious" piece of journalism using VR.
Current Google Cardboard owners will also be able to enjoy no-charge viewing of the immersive movies by using their viewers, according to PCWorld. In addition, the films will be available in 2D versions on NYT's website.
Google's VR device is an ultra-low-cost thick paper version that is the converse of the high-tech Oculus Rift and Microsoft HoloLens gadgets. However, that feature makes it ideal to be stuffed into a daily newspaper.
The New York Times was founded in 1851.
Here is a hands-on for the Google Cardboard 2: