NextVR, the immersive video platform, today announced a partnership with publishing giant Time Inc. to develop live-streaming and on-demand 360 video for the company’s many brands, including Time, People, Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated. Named LIFE VR, 360 content will be hosted on the NextVR app.
Announced at Digital Content NewFronts, an annual advertising conference held in New York, NextVR will soon be home to 360 content created from Time Inc.’s 100 global brands. Although we don’t expect to see anything from Practical Boat Owner or Southern Living anytime soon, the powerhouse brands are certainly poised to attract eyeballs.
Time Inc. and NextVR are slated to offer between 3 to 5 events this year via LIFE VR, however the newly partnered companies are staying mum on any details about the actual contents of the video, billing it as “immersive, next-level storytelling.”
The new LIFE VR partnership comes hot on the tails of NextVR’s collaboration with Live Nation, the event promotion company that’s responsible for more than 25,000 events worldwide, including concerts and performances by artists like U2 and AC/DC, and festivals such as Lollapolooza and Bonnaroo. NextVR will begin live-streaming concerts later this year.
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They’ve even gone so far as to kit out their own NextVR-blazened mobile streaming truck to make the process of live-streaming video that much easier.
The explosion of partnerships (and addition of swanky truck) from the live-streaming firm comes only months after their recent $30.5M series A investment, which significantly increased their funding from last year’s $5M round.
The company has since partnered with FOX Sports to live-stream sports events like an NBA basketball game and NASCAR race, and even partnered with CNN to deliver the U.S. Democratic debate in 360.
NextVR’s live-streamed and on-demand 360 video are available through the NextVR app on Gear VR, with additional devices coming soon.