November 13, 2016 4:02 pm

StarTalk Goes Virtual – Introducing 360 VR Videos on YouTube

StarTalk is proud to be working with YouTube to develop The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Neil’s Universe, exclusive VR Video content for the new YouTube VR app. Our videos will allow fans to enjoy a more intimate experience with their own personal astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, as he chauffeurs them, co-host Chuck Nice, and guests like astrophysicists Charles Liu and Janna Levin, around the streets of his home town New York, on the way to interesting destinations with scientific significance.

Our new 360 VR Videos can be watched in 3-D on VR viewers including Google Cardboard and the new Google Daydream View. But even if you don’t have a VR viewer, you can watch the video on YouTube and change your perspectives 360° using the directional controller in the upper left corner of the video (shown in the screen capture above).

Starting right now, you can head over to our YouTube channel to watch our first 4-part episode of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Neil’s Universe.

Episode 1 is called Hayden Planetarium, and it begins when our host, Neil deGrasse Tyson, picks you up in downtown Manhattan in his SUV on a trip uptown to the Hayden Planetarium, where he serves as the Director. Pretty soon, the two of you spot Chuck Nice on the streets and pick him up as well.

You’re in the passenger seat, able to look around the streets of NYC, look at the back seat where Chuck is, and look at Neil sitting mere inches from you on your left.

Throughout the 4-part episode, the conversation flows from secret shortcuts and scooter cops, to why kids in the US dream of growing up to be astronauts and rock stars, to cultural and national differences in creativity and innovation. You’ll even stop to pick up one last surprise guest, although we never do actually get to the Hayden Planetarium in this episode.

If you’d rather not head on over to our YouTube channel, you can watch the 4 parts of our premier episode right here – but not in virtual reality, of course. Use the directional controls in the upper left to scroll around and see 360°:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Neil’s Universe – Episode 1: Hayden Planetarium, Part 1: The Pickup

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Neil’s Universe – Episode 1: Hayden Planetarium, Part 2: Kidding Around

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Neil’s Universe – Episode 1: Hayden Planetarium, Part 3: Exceptionally Yours

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Neil’s Universe – Episode 1: Hayden Planetarium, Part 4: Neil’s Muscle Car

We’ll be premiering new episodes of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Neil’s Universe every Sunday for the next few weeks, so please stay tuned.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
– Jeffrey Simons