Oculus launches pilot programs to learn VR
High schoolers, non-profits will be given gear, expertise
Most of the energy spent to date on virtual reality has been around gaming and entertainment. Oculus is rolling out a program with the goal of using VR as an inspiration for social change.
Along the way, it will get feedback and a chance to flaunt its new technology with the next generation of VR consumers: teens.
Dubbed VR for Good, the program launches with two pilots.
In the first, the Facebookowned company is connecting students at nine San Francisco Bay Area high schools with professional filmmakers, the aim of which is to have the youngsters produce three- to five-minute 360 videos about their local communities and what is important to them. Oculus is donating gear to the schools, consisting of Samsung Gear VR headsets, Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphones, Ricoh Theta S 360 cameras, plus access to editing software. And the company is putting students and educators in touch with VR film “mentors.”
In the second For Good pilot, yet-to-be-chosen non-profit organizations will be given a chance to showcase their social missions through 360 videos. Oculus will match the non-profits with 10 filmmakers and once again supply the gear and expertise, in this case including professional Nokia OZO cameras valued at $60,000 each, along with post-production support, a travel budget and one- on-one mentorship.
The non-profits can apply the end of May. Organizations selected will participate in a two-day bootcamp July 26-27, with the first videos to be unveiled in January at the Sundance Film Festival.
Oculus is sinking $1 million as a starting point for the VR for Good initiative, which, if successful, it hopes to spread through other projects around the country.
Facebook has an incentive beyond the social good, of course. A major challenge for Oculus — and for that matter, all the other companies evangelizing virtual reality or augmented reality as immersive new mediums (Google, HTC, Sony and Microsoft among them) — is to get people to experience the technologies and then create in this brand-new medium. With this program, it’s reaching young trendsetters who can potentially spread the world about Oculus.
“Projects like this are going to bear fruit in the very long run,” says Eugene Wei, the head of video at Oculus.
Tech companies have long used partnerships with schools, usually with additional free gear and training, as a way to spread their brand with young consumers and gain key insights into how things work. Lauren Burmaster, program lead for VR for Good at Oculus, says the student films will be showcased on Facebook and on Oculus.