The New York Times taps Samsung to launch immersive 360-degree video journalism project

The New York Times is teaming up with Samsung to launch a new immersive 360-degree video journalism project.

Launching on the web; The New York Times‘ mobile apps; and through Samsung’s own virtual reality (VR) content service, Samsung VR; The Daily 360 promises “at least” one 360-degree video every day. Samsung has said it will provide Times‘ journalists around the world with access to its Gear 360 cameras and related equipment.

This isn’t the first time that the Times has aligned itself with immersive video — in October of last year it gave out one million Google Cardboard VR viewers, in partnership with Google, to promote and support a new slate of VR films.

The themes contained within The Daily 360 productions will vary, but in the build-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Times says it will be producing videos from across the campaign trail as it looks to capture the spirit and mood of what has been one of the most heated and controversial campaigns in recent memory.

“Virtual reality storytelling isn’t just exciting and immersive, it can forge a lasting and empathetic connection between viewers and subjects,” said Marc Mathieu, chief marketing officer at Samsung Electronics America. “In collaborating with The New York Times, we want Samsung’s innovative products and services to show how coverage of the world’s most important stories can be made richer, more useful, and more human when augmented by 360-degree experiences.”

It’s worth noting here that despite the “VR” branding, and the fact that 360-degree video is often conflated with VR, they are not really the same thing. The Daily 360 won’t require any specialist headsets, instead those on the web will be able to navigate a video by scrolling with their mouse, while smartphone users can tilt and swivel their device to alter the view.

The initiative kicks off today with footage filmed on the ground following an airstrike in war-torn Yemen. We’ve embedded the video below.