President Obama, Nat Geo Celebrate National Parks Centennial With VR Video

Over the seven-and-a-half years of his presidency, Barack Obama has embraced online media as an effective tool for connecting with his constituents. Now, the commander-in-chief has embraced a new digital frontier. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, he starred in a virtual reality video set at Yosemite.

Back in June, President Obama took a Father’s Day trip to Yosemite with his family. While there, thanks to a partnership between the White House, National Geographic, Canadian VR studio Felix & Paul, and Facebook-owned VR platform Oculus, the President starred in and narrator an 11-minute, 360-degree documentary called ‘Through the Ages,’ in which he celebrates the beauty and natural splendor of America’s National Parks while also stressing the need for continued conservation. He doesn’t miss a chance to inject a strong political message, either; in the video, he stresses that climate change is real, and its effects on our environment cannot be ignored.

‘Through the Ages’ is available on Samsung’s Gear VR platform, and it will launch for Oculus devices at a later date. A browser version of the video can be found on the National Geographic Facebook page, where viewers can rotate the video player to glimpse the wonder of Yosemite while Obama delivers his sermon.

“It is a rare honor to collaborate with the White House and President Obama on his first-ever participation in a virtual reality experience on the occasion of the National Park Service’s centennial,” said Félix Lajeunesse, co-founder and creative director of Felix & Paul Studios, in a press release. “We were deeply inspired by the idea that American national parks such as Yosemite were originally established ‘for all people for all times,’ as a way to allow future generations to experience the extraordinary and untouched beauty and richness of these natural wonders. As filmmakers, we wanted to use cinematic virtual reality’s unique transportive power to bring audiences into a journey with President Obama where they could experience firsthand the vertiginous, lyrical and timeless beauty of Yosemite.”

With just five months left in his presidency, it is good to see that Obama is still dedicated to exploring new media. ‘Through the Ages’ may not be as impactful as, say, the President’s chat with Zach Galifianakis, but it sure is prettier.