Take 360º Mini-Tours of Colorado with Gravity Jack’s New App, Colorado VR
When Gravity Jack, AR/VR pioneers based in Liberty Lake, WA, opened their Denver office they had no idea that their new location would inspire a seriously cool VR experience.
Located in Downtown Denver’s RiNo Arts District, the team (consisting of Ryan Darbonne, Director of Marketing, Mark Buche, Marketing & User Acquisition, and Zach Minard, Senior Designer) was eager to connect with local businesses, showcase their technology, and immerse their company culture within the community. What started as trips to RiNo’s eclectic craft breweries grew into Gravity Jack’s newest virtual reality passion project, Colorado VR.
“Here in Denver we love where we live, work, and play – so much so, that we wanted to share all that Colorado has to offer with anyone, anywhere.” –Gravity Jack, Denver
The Denver team, proposed the idea of an app that allows users to take high definition 360º video adventures around 15 of Colorado’s most iconic locations. The higher-ups at HQ loved what they heard and gave the green light. Not long thereafter, Josh “Trout” Abel, Gravity Jack’s CEO, flew out to Denver with their videographer, Shane, and GoPro rig to meet up with the Denver team and begin production. The team loaded up Zach’s car, and at the end of what was essentially a “week-long camping trip”, the content for Colorado VR was captured.
After a rundown of the concept and creation of Colorado VR, it was time for me to test out the technology. Looking through the Google Cardboard headset, I was transported to back to Maroon Bells, Aspen, where I actually hiked for the first time this summer while at a Wanderlust (yoga) festival. Known as the most photographed peaks in North America, it’s easy to see why this was selected to be part of Colorado VR’s collection. Turning around, looking up and down through the headset, I could see people walking past me, hear the faint sounds in crisp mountain air, and I longed to be back in that majestic mountain range. Talk about a travel industry technology dream! After viewing more of the Colorado VR locations, I felt energized to explore more of beautiful CO, as well as return to my favorite old haunts.
Colorado VR showcases the locations below. The team plans on adding more CO locations in the future, and strongly hinted that they may be adding other states to its roster!
- Red Rock’s Amphitheater
- Maroon Bells
- CSU Campus
- The Stanley Hotel
- Coors Field (Home of the Rockies)
- The US Air Force Academy Chapel
- Moraine Park
- Bear Lake
- The State Capitol
- Cerebral Brewing
- The Flatirons of Boulder
- Aspen
- Crested Butte
- Arkansas River
- Campus Grounds of the US Air Force Academy
Colorado VR is free on both iOS and Android. Users can enjoy the scenery of Colorado by putting their phone in a virtual reality headset, like a Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR for a next-level immersive experience, or can simply watch the 360º on their mobile devices.
As a fellow Colorado company, the idea of immortalizing the beauty and essence of our home state is a project we hold close to our hearts. We’re excited to see where Colorado VR will go!