You can use Netflix with virtual reality and the streaming company itself explains how to do it, configure it and use it to enjoy this option that will try to get us fully into it. At the moment the option of getting into a series or living in 360 degrees and immersive moments like Eleven fighting the Demogorgon is not available but the platform is already working on it. For now we can access the “Netflix virtual room”, a kind of virtual reality outlet in which we can see the contents.
Requirements and features
The first requirement to watch Netflix with virtual reality is to have an active subscription , of course. All plans allow us this option regardless of whether you have chosen the most basic or the most complete with content up to 4K. In addition, the second requirement is to have a compatible mobile phone or a device compatible with this technology such as Samsung Gear VR or an Oculus helmet in any of the brand’s available models.
The resolution that we can see on Netflix in virtual reality is 480p so do not expect spectacular quality in the content or not similar to if we use other devices.
Hardware
To be able to watch Netflix in virtual reality we need a compatible helmet or glasses. They can be the cardboard Google Cardboards that we find on the Mountain View website but also other more powerful models such as Oculus devices, for example.
You will need a mobile phone with Android to download the application and a Google Cardboard where you can insert the phone inside, or any other similar virtual reality headset at a low price, which we can find on Amazon.
App
Depending on the system you are going to use, you will have to download one application or another, but on all devices we will find a version for us.
Oculus allows you to download the application from its website. A free application compatible with Go and Gear VR and whose requirement is to have Android 5.0 or higher. As they explain from their details page you will need an Internet connection. It is categorized as “moderate experience” or what is the same, “appropriate for most people .” You will not take risks even if you are not used to VR.
If you have an Android phone, the app you need to install is Netflix VR for Android. A free application that we can have from Google Play and that has poor criticism from users but that fulfills its function and will allow us to enter the Netflix virtual room to see the content.
DownloadQR-Code
Netflix VR
Developer: Netflix, Inc.
In the case of using iPhone, you can watch Netflix in VR with a specific application: Trinus VR . It is an application that allows us to convert games that are not in virtual reality to virtual reality but it can also be used to use Netflix with this system, although it will be a bit more complex than doing it with the previous app.
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TrinusVR
Developer: Odd Sheep Ltd
Virtual Netflix
Once we have followed the previous steps in any of the apps, we must follow a few steps. In the case of Android, the first thing you will have to do is enter the application and select the option “Headset” and here “Daydream view”. The process may change slightly from device to device , from application to application. You may need to scan a QR code if it is another device, in order to link it. Once you have it, you will have to log into your Netflix account. Enter the email and password and you will access your profile in the streaming account.
When you have logged into your account , you will be able to see the fictional Netflix room in virtual reality. It will be an adapted interface and the screen will appear large.
In Oculus it will be even easier since you simply have to enter the specific application that it offers and access with your username and password, with your email and password.
Keep in mind that Netflix does not offer you to get into the series, at least for now. It should be made clear that Netflix VR offers us a kind of virtual room to watch the movies , adapted with posters and other types of content to get more into the action. In no case are we going to be “inside” a series, something that many of us want, but which is not what the popular streaming platform offers at the moment.
Netflix virtual reality in the future
Beyond this room that it offers us today, it soon seems that we will be able to go one step further and Netflix is approaching virtual reality content. According to reports from July 2021, the streaming company announced an agreement with screenwriter and director Shonda Rhimes and her company Shondaland. Responsible for hits such as Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, How to defend a murderer or The Bridgertons . Not only does the agreement talk about the sequel to one of its series, but also future productions that would go further.
Netflix itself announced that “the agreement would provide Netflix and Shondaland Media the opportunity to exclusively produce, broadcast and distribute film, as well as game content and virtual reality.” This would imply that Netflix is already working on improving this type of content.
Choose your own adventure
Netflix’s virtual reality has nothing to do with the special content on the “choose your own adventure” platform or interactive series. These are available from any device and you simply have to search for “interactive” in the Netflix search engine to enter all the options offered by the catalog.
These are series or movies where you can decide what the protagonist does. There are them for children, like the Boss Baby or Captain Underpants, but also for adults with the adventure in the jungle of Bear Grylls. They all allow us to decide what to do at each moment, to choose what the character does. And the story moves according to what we have chosen. These are not the virtual reality series and for them we do not need anything more than a browser and a Netflix account, search for them and start playing.
