Skip to main content

See all of NYC in this 360-degree VR photo captured from atop One World Trade Center

new york times one world trade center 360 degree vr experience photo
Image used with permission by copyright holder
On November 3, 2014, One World Trade Center was completed. Towering over the New York City skyline, it stands 1,776 feet tall, from ground level to the top of the spire — a number specifically chosen as a nod to the year in which the Declaration of Independence was signed.

For its The New York Issue, The New York Times decided to capture the scene atop One World Trade Center in a way few other publications ever could.

With the help of National Geographic photographer Jimmy Chin, who happens to work on the 85th floor of One World Trade Center, The New York Times created a virtual reality experience that lets viewers get a view of the world as it’s seen from the top of the spire.

The task of capturing the image might have been daunting for anyone else, but Chin is known for his climbing escapades and the beautiful images he captures while on them. Despite his familiarity with heights, the view and experience of capturing New York City from the top of One World Trade Center are not something Chin will soon forget.

“You’re looking down on something you’re not in, and you feel you’re a long way from where you need to be if you need to be safe,“ Chin told The New York Times. ”At the same time, there’s something therapeutic about seeing great distances. It happens on planes, on mountains, on beaches. I’ll have a meeting with a new client, and we’ll gaze out the window and have this comfortable silence.”

Below are a few posts from Chin’s Instagram showing him in action:

To see the scenery as it’s intended to be viewed, you’ll need a virtual reality rig of some sort, be it an Oculus Rift or simply Google Cardboard.

If you don’t have either of those on hand, don’t worry. Both in the browser and inside YouTube’s smartphone application, you can see the incredible 360-degree view in all its glory.

Climbing 1 World Trade Center: Man on Spire | The New York Times

To accompany the visuals, The New York Times has written a lengthy piece on One World Trade Center and the unique experience its architecture offers those who get to scale the building, be it for work or pleasure.

Gannon Burgett
All the ways Intel Macs are still better than Apple Silicon Macs
cheap macbook deals

MacBooks are pretty amazing these days. Thanks to the efficiency of Apple Silicon, you get all-day battery life, as well as the ability to edit videos when unplugged from power. The new MacBook Air with the M3 chip is even good enough for gaming.

All of that is in contrast to the Intel Macs of the past.

Read more
This bundle deal saves you $1,000 on an Alienware PC and monitor
An Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop alongside a gaming monitor on a desk.

You don't have to go through gaming PC deals and monitor deals yourself because there are bundles like this one from Dell -- the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop and the Alienware 34-inch curved QD-OLED gaming monitor for a package price of $2,900, which is $1,000 less the original price of $3,900. It's still not cheap, but you'll be getting a top-of-the-line gaming rig with just one purchase. You'll have to hurry with the transaction though, as we're not sure if the bundle will still cost cheaper than usual by tomorrow.

Why you should buy the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC and 34-inch curved QD-OLED gaming monitor
It's the Alienware Aurora R16 that sits on top of our list of the best gaming PCs, but its predecessor, the Alienware Aurora R15, remains a worthwhile purchase because of the power that it packs. It's equipped with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X processor, AMD Radeon RX 7900 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM that's the sweet spot for high-end gamers, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need. These specifications make it more than enough to run the best PC games without any issues. The gaming desktop also features a 1TB SSD for ample storage space, and it comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed.

Read more
Here’s proof that Snapdragon X Elite laptops can play hit games without issue
A laptop and a camera on a table with a Qualcomm logo on the screen.

Windows laptops with Qualcomm's ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chip are set to come this summer, but we're already getting a preview of how good the devices will be for gaming. A recent video surfaced online showing how one of the most popular PC games, Baldur's Gate 3, can run on a Qualcomm reference laptop with the chip -- and it does look to be pretty impressive.

As shared by Devin Arthur on X, Qualcomm ran this game on a sample laptop at 1080p resolution. The demo was done in a public setting, and it's not clear what else was changed beyond that, but it does appear stable, with little to no lag.

Read more