Cavs fan? You don’t have to go to a game to see King James in action. In fact, you may end up with a better seat if you stay at home. It’s all thanks to a new virtual reality experience starring, who else, LeBron James, in all his basketball training glory.
The product of a partnership among Oculus, Samsung, and Uninterrupted, you can now watch the 12-minute Gear VR “experience” known as Striving for Greatness, which gives you something better than a court side seat as LeBron practices perfecting his form.
On Christmas Day, experience @KingJames like you never have before as Striving for Greatness hits @oculus. pic.twitter.com/4NO5gUxp4g
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 24, 2015
Uninterrupted, a production company James co-founded, has previously released some of the footage included in the short documentary, but this is the first time that everything will be viewable as part of a VR experience. While Striving for Greatness isn’t a typical VR setup (you can’t move around in the environment or really interact with anything), you are privy to 360-degree views of everything Montreal-based Felix and Paul Studios shot for the finished product. And perhaps more importantly for James, the latest move cements his position as more than a star athlete — he’s becoming a lifestyle and tech brand as well.
It’s also a strategic move for Oculus and for VR in general, which has had a bit of trouble breaking out of its gamers’ niche. Of course, in recent months, VR has been employed in a broadening range of applications — extending to everything from marriage proposals to cutting edge journalism — but of course, having LeBron never hurts.
For $99, you will be able to own a Gear VR headset for yourself, and then you’ll simply need to download the film by way of the Oculus store, or you can access it through the Samsung Milk VR app.
