The evolution of media consumption continues with a recent move from Plex. The company has been making its mark as a convenient way to stream content to connected televisions, especially content that is stored locally. However, a fan driven community project called Plevr formed with the goal of bringing Plex capabilities to virtual reality devices instead of connected flat screens. Plex was hesitant to go down that path at first, but just announced that not only have they jumped on board the virtual reality bandwagon, they are helping move Plevr to what they think is a whole new level for consumers.
To make things a reality, Plex announced that the creator of Plevr has joined the company to help build out the platform as an official part of the portfolio. Plex also decided to adopt the Google Daydream platform as the base to build their dedicated Plex VR app for virtual reality.
If you thought watching Plex content on a VR device meant nothing more than slapping a head set on your head, Plex has a surprise for you. The Plex VR app was built to encourage “co-watching” so that friends can join together to enjoy content. With support for up to four “viewers” for a single title, the participants can experience a virtual world modeled on an apartment or a drive-in movie theater. Whichever one is chosen, the app will keep track of head position for participants so they can interact with each other making watching TV more of a social encounter than one might think possible in a VR environment.
The Plex VR app is available now in the Google Play Store and will run on all Daydream ready Android phones. The co-watching feature, drive-in movie theater and support for streaming content from Plex do require a Plex Pass subscription. Plex is offering one free week of co-watching support for folks to test things out and see how they like it. Using the Plex VR app for local content is free.
Get It Now: Google Play Store
source: Plex
