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Time Inc. unrolls virtual reality platform, highlighting media?s shifting focus

Time Inc. rolled out Life VR, its new virtual reality application, this week, enabling readers to access storytelling on a more interactive medium and showcasing the growing technology-first mindset that publishers are quickly adopting.

The media company?s new platform, an extension of its Life brand, features content that complements various documentaries, promotes meditation and wellness and covers interesting international events. The virtual reality experiences within the Life VR app can be viewed with a cardboard headset, VR gear or directly on a smartphone, thanks to 360-degree video capabilities.

?Life VR elevates Time Inc.?s iconic storytelling capabilities, creating powerful engagements and immersive experiences for our audiences, showing them the world in a whole new way,? said Mia Tramz, managing editor of Life VR. ?The launch of Life VR is another example of how we are bringing our ?content everywhere? strategy to reach consumers wherever, whenever and however they want to consume it.

?Virtual reality is an exciting new tool in content creation that allows Time Inc. to push the boundaries of leading-edge technology as an entertainment and news medium and entering this space enables us to extend our content creation and distribution capabilities,? she said.

?The evolution of the technology used to both create and distribute VR is moving at a fast pace right now ? we?re interested in creating experiences that tap into what is new and most groundbreaking in both arenas, while leveraging our unparalleled access and storytelling capabilities as we continue to experiment in the rapidly evolving medium.?

Foraying into the VR realm
Time Inc.?s Life VR app is now available for iOS and Android devices. Consumers can watch the content with Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR. 

If they do not own a VR headset, they may watch the stories directly on their smartphones through 360-degree video.

Time Inc. sought to make room for its virtual reality on its editorial map upon realizing it wanted to roll out more live experiences and powerful engagements that would resonate with readers.

The first piece of content currently available is titled Defying the Nazis. It functions as a companion to Ken Burns? PBS documentary ?Defying the Nazis: The Sharps? War? and offers viewers insights into what it was like to escape from Nazi France and journey across the Atlantic.

The next video, titled Lumen, a Life VR Original, takes individuals on a nonlinear guided meditation through a bioluminescent forest. Participants will start their experiences with a short breathing exercise before being asked to interact with the virtual environment surrounding them.

Lastly, Life VR app users can engage with Fast Ride, from The Drive by Life VR, which highlights the Mazda 787 race car and its historic wins.

New mobile avenues
Time Inc. has recently placed a bigger emphasis on mobile technology after brainstorming ways to grow its audience and stay afloat in the competitive publishing industry.

Time Inc. succeeded in growing its audience and digital footprint with a 29 percent increase in unique mobile visitors, but overall revenue was down by $4 million from the same quarter last year (see story).

However, foraying into virtual reality will likely bring an influx of millennial consumers to its digital platforms.

?We certainly look at the launch of Life VR not only as another premium content offering for the millions of young consumers that already regularly follow our Time Inc. brands, but as is the case with any new venture like this we hope that it will serve to attract new audiences, that are perhaps more interested in VR-specific experiences, to all of the great work being done here,? Ms. Tramz said.

?It should also be noted that Life VR is meant to be a platform for curation as well as a way to publish original material ? we will be looking to distribute what is best and most interesting in VR, to give some great work wider distribution and hit perhaps an audience that couldn?t be reached otherwise.?