Whether you’re a sports fan or not, it’s hard not getting excited around bowl season in college football. More exciting than that is watching all of the teams push their own candidates for the Heisman Trophy, given out to this year’s best NCAA football player.
Stanford, as techie as they get, decided to take their pitch for everyman Christian McCaffrey into virtual reality:
A groundbreaking new 360° video experience for fans, media and Heisman voters, presenting Christian McCaffrey through virtual reality. Watch this over and over, trying both mobile & desktop experiences. Mobile is special, so tilt and rotate away (making sure your Facebook app is updated). #OnlyAtStanford #WildCaff
This is just the most recent sports team to take advantage of Facebook’s 360-degree video experience, and fans are getting into it. The video has 4,541 views in the past couple of days and is being shared all over Facebook.
As I’ve mentioned before, moments like these are what’s selling mainstream consumers on the promise of VR. Flashy game announcements and new gear is nice and all, but regular folks want to know what’s possible. And yes, 360-degree video isn’t exactly “virtual reality,” but again, it’s one step closer to getting people to think about content in a different way.
An immersive way that isn’t bound to four corners on a screen.