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Experience the Coast Guard's training in a new 360 degree video experience

Lulu Chang
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coast guard vr united states cutter chandeleur
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Few have what it takes to serve in the Coast Guard — staying constantly ready is no easy task. But if you never make it to their grueling training process in person, you can now experience it like never before. It’s all thanks to a 360 degree video that feels like a virtual reality experience without the virtual reality headset. Of course, if you have a Google Cardboard lying around, it certainly won’t hurt to don it when you watch the new promo for the upcoming film, The Finest Hours. Shot with a camera provided by 360Heroes, Disney filmed the Coast Guard’s training drills and is sharing them for the world to see — because sometimes cinema needs to be a fully immersive experience.

The video was recently posted on Facebook’s newly launched 360 video feature, and you can drag your mouse around the frames to move yourself within the shots. The footage includes the launch and return of a CGC Narwhal small boat and hoist training with an HH-65 helicopter. The new video experience is all meant to drive attention to Disney’s new action-thriller, which will hit theaters on Friday, January 29.

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The Finest Hours won’t be a VR film, but it is the “remarkable true story of the most daring rescue mission in the history of the Coast Guard.” And while you don’t need a headset to watch it, you’ll be able to don a pair of 3D glasses and see it in Digital 3D, Real D 3D, or IMAX 3D — because you can’t fully appreciate the incredible feats of the Coast Guard in any other way.

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So to whet your appetite, here’s the VR footage. And if you don’t want to join the Coast Guard immediately after watching it, you’ll at least want to head to theaters to check out The Finest Hours.

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Experience the open water with the U.S. Coast Guard in this 360 video inspired by The Finest Hours, in theaters Friday.

Posted by The Finest Hours on Sunday, 24 January 2016

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Lulu Chang
Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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