The two parts of the following sentence might seem unrelated, but stick with us for a second: In the wake of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, President Barack Obama has made his debut in virtual reality.
The White House, National Geographic, Oculus, and Felix and Paul studios teamed up to create and share Through The Ages, a VR look at one of America’s most famous national parks, Yosemite, in virtual reality. Although the video, hosted on Facebook, looks and works best with a virtual reality headset, it comes out pretty nicely on your phone as well, as you can move the device around and still experience the 360-degree view. If neither of those are an option, you can still click-and-drag on your computer and see what’s going on.
The 11-minute film was shot in about a week, and while showing stunning visuals from Yosemite, the President narrates the production and talks about environmental concerns and the preservation of our country’s important landmarks so that those in the future will also be able to appreciate them firsthand. We also get to see the Obama family explore the area for themselves, as Through The Ages was filmed during a Father’s Day trip the family took together.
The video, which you can watch below, follows news that Obama just designated 87,000 acres of land in Maine’s North Woods as a new national monument, for what The Washington Post said is “likely to be the last large new national park ever established on the East Coast.”
Featured image: The White House
