Four Imperial Stormtroopers showed up to Mashable‘s New York City offices on Wednesday. Instead of bringing blasters, they brought Star Wars-themed Google Cardboard headsets.
The special BB-8, Kylo Ren, Stormtrooper and R2-D2 Google Cardboard viewers are part of a promotion for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the much-anticipated seventh episode in the sci-fi saga, premiering on Dec. 18.
Verizon is giving away the special Cardboard viewers for free to its customers. Verizon customers can swing by a Verizon retail store and pick one up while supplies last.
The Cardboard viewer works with the free Star Wars app for iOS and Android. Jakku Spy, the first of nine short 360-degree videos within the app went live on Wednesday.
In Jakku Spy, viewers play the role of a spy for the Resistance, the new rebel group fighting back against the First Order, the new Empire. The Millennium Falcon streaks across the desert planet as it outmaneuvers enemy fire. BB-8 then comes rolling down to greet you, and it’s over.
There’s not much substance to the experience, but that’s kind of the point — to tease clips until the movie arrives. The super-short length is also a good way to ease newbies into VR without overwhelming them with all kinds of things to look around at.
The other eight VR clips will unlock within the app within the next two weeks before the film debuts.
I checked out the first clip on an original Google Cardboard with an iPhone 6, and it was pretty jittery and terrible, but the experience on the Star Wars viewer was much better: They feature the larger lenses and an easier-to-fold design from version 2.0 of the viewer announced at Google I/O earlier this year.
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable
Image: Lili Sams/Mashable