Bringing the Great Outdoors Inside With VR

Talking about sex, it’s said, is like eating a menu. Strapping a virtual-reality headset to your face so you can feel what it’s like to dangle from a cliff, thousands of feet in the air, seems like a similarly frustrating proposition. All the same, that’s exactly what was happening at the North Face store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on a recent Friday.

Two years ago the outdoor gear and apparel company became a pioneer in the use of VR as a marketing gimmick. It teamed up with the daring cinematographers of Camp4 Collective and Palo Alto-based VR camera and software company Jaunt to produce a short-form experience for its in-store shoppers, though the 3D video is also available for desktop, smartphone, and headset. These days, North Face has company in the virtual world: Moosejaw, a Michigan-based retailer with a national presence online, offers a branded cardboard viewer and VR app, as well as 360-degree videos on its website. Both companies’ offerings follow athletes into the field as they attempt exploits most of us probably wouldn’t dare on our best day.