If you’re a New York Times subscriber who wants to try this VR thing first hand, you’re in luck.

The Times will be sending out over 1 million Google Cardboard headsets to subscribers as part of the launch of their new NYT VR app, which is launching on both iOS and Android on November 5th.

As you might know, Google Cardboard is a neat little folding cardboard box with a couple of special plastic lenses. When you fit any smartphone running iOS or Android into the headset, it does a pretty good job of simulating VR, allowing you to look around just by turning your head.

The New York Times is using Cardboard as a way to explore virtual reality’s possibilities as a news platform. Consequently, NYT VR will feature new virtual reality stories, which you can experience if you plug your smartphone into Cardboard.

The first film to debut on the app is The Displaced, and will focus on the plight of refugee children from the Ukraine, Syria, and South Sudan. According to New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet, it’s “the first critical, serious piece of journalism using virtual reality, to shed light on one of the most dire humanitarian crises of our lifetime.”

If you’re a Times subscriber, the free Google Cardboard headset will come along with your paper during the weekend of November 7th and 8th. Don’t have a subscription? NYT VR will also be viewable in 2D, although it won’t be quite as full featured.

Source: New York Times