Back in September, Facebook debuted an innovative new feature called 360 Degree Video, which gives viewers the interactive experience of rotating a full 360 degrees around the original frame. The feature kicked off with a new video from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with Jurassic World debuting another clip a month later. Earlier today, the hit HBO series Game of Thrones has partnered with Facebook, Oculus Rift and Elastic, the company who designed their opening credits sequence, to debut a 360 Degree Video for the iconic opening of the show.
Of course, this video is a bit different from the actual show's opening, which is used to give fans a heads up about which parts of Westeros and Essos will be featured in that particular episode. Instead, this three-minute video explores this entire fantasy world, giving fans the chance to explore different parts of the universe created by George R.R. Martin, along with seeing the machinations of the different cities, such as the slithering snake head in Dorne and the massive statue in Meereen. This video will also be available to watch on another unique platform.
TV Line reports that this video will also be made available on Oculus Video for the Gear VR and Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. We reported in January that the first Oculus Rift headsets would start shipping out on March 28, and they will be available in select retailers sometime in April. Of course, this video is timed to the long-awaited debut of Game of Thrones Season 6, which airs its season premiere Sunday April 24, at 9 PM ET on HBO.
Although we have seen a few trailers for Season 6, there is still much we don't know about this secretive season. The show eschewed its annual tradition of confirming new cast members at Comic Con this past summer, and HBO even stopped sending advanced screeners out to members of the press, after the first four episodes leaked just before the premiere last spring. The show has also caught up to the stories in George R.R. Martin's books, and it still isn't known when the author will publish his long-awaited sixth and seventh novels in his A Song of Fire and Ice series.
HBO did release new clips earlier this week, which shed new light on a few fan favorite characters. These scenes showed Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) being enslaved by Dothraki warriors, Sansa (Sophie Turner) and Theon (Alfie Allen) trying to escape from Winterfell and the clutches of Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), and Cersei (Lena Headey) mourning the loss of her daughter Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free). Take a look at this 360 video below, and stay tuned for more on this new season of Game of Thrones.
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