You’ll soon be able to have YouTube viewing parties in VR

You’ll soon be able to have YouTube viewing parties in VR

Image: raymond wong/mashable

VR is often slammed for being an isolating experience, but companies like Facebook and Google are making strides to make it more social.

At Google I/O, Google previewed an upcoming YouTube VR feature for Daydream 2.0 (also called Euphrates) that’ll let you and your friends watch YouTube videos in VR and then have discussions about them.

The feature, which YouTube’s Erin Teague calls a “co-watching experience,” will let users essentially have conversations via what appears to be digital avatars that float on a dock in the middle of the screen.

Instead of typing in comments (something that’s not possible in VR), you and a couple of friends can dive into an actual discussion and chat about a video like IRL.

I could see this being really fun for watching new movie trailers, like a new Star Wars drop.

The feature looks like it’s Google’s own mini version of Oculus Rooms, which also lets multiple users get together to have viewing parties. And while not as full-featured as Facebook Spaces, YouTube VR’s co-watching experience is the first step to making its Daydream VR platform more social.

Teague didn’t mention when the co-watching feature would roll out.

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