Discovery launches online VR offering

Discovery has launched Seeker VR, an OTT 360-video and virtual reality offering.

The YouTube channel will have a raft of 360-degree content from digital content specialists. A selected team of ‘creators’ will travel the world, with Discovery providing production resources and expertise to track their journeys and create 360 and VR experiences.

Discovery launched its Seeker online platform earlier this year, bringing its digital assets – DNews, TestTube, Seeker Stories, Revision3 – under one umbrella.

The service is designed to attract millennials with digital content and younger-skewing Discovery fare.

The new experiences will include Edge of the Earth (pictured), which follows a weather balloon to the outer reaches of the earth’s atmosphere.

Discovery said was the first VR experiment in such extreme conditions.

Other experiences will include Rhinos on the Move, tracking Nepalese rhinos, and Hearing Colors about the neurological condition synesthesia.

“Seeker is dedicated to producing and empowering the most interesting, engaging and thought-provoking content in science and exploration. One of the great ways to achieve that mission is to employ every storytelling technology we can and that certainly includes VR,” said former E! executive Suzanne Kolb, who is now executive VP, Discovery Digital Networks.

“We’re thrilled to bring original VR programming produced by our outstanding team and our talented creative partners to Seeker’s 46M+ subscribers while also attracting new viewers.”