We’re heading into a new year full throttle and ready for change. If you’ve been following us closely you might have gotten some sneak peek glimpses, but just before we welcome 2019, we want to share with you what’s new, so that you can take advantage of our features in time for any holiday traveling you have in mind! Here are 3 major developments for 360Stories by 2019!

New Look, New Branding, New Website, New Features

Out with the old and in with the new. We have reinvisioned ourselves, placing you, the user in the center of an immersive digital world. A 3D environment where you can explore, share and learn. We’ve done some major rebranding, have a new sleek and sexy look, and are becoming more user-friendly in the process. Check out our website and you’ll see a more simplified design, and some brand new features as well. Go through our new featured stories, and enjoy stories in all their glory with both audio and visual elements!

That’s right! Now you get to listen to narrations while clicking on different photos and reading along with the stories that the 360Stories community members have shared about different locations and sites. This feature really levels up the immersive experience we are striving for, adding as many sensory stimulations as possible.

Now if there’s anything that we’ve learned about listening to and sharing stories throughout the years, is that stories plant a seed in our bellies for wanting to experience things ourselves. Listening to story after story has always made us eager to go out and explore the world. We know we aren’t the only ones, as you’ve shared this feedback with us as well.

You shared, and we listened. That’s why we’ve gone beyond just stories and are now offering something even more. So, if you like what you see, you can now check out our Experience page to find packages and deals that you can book straight from our website or application! After a bit of exploration, you might get the itch of the travel bug, and we don’t blame you. Look no further as we are doing whatever we can to help streamline your experience from 360 to real time!

Do you plan on going to the Muse D’Orsay for example? Daunted by the time you’ll lose standing in line? Check out some exclusive deals offered to 360Stories users to help you skip the line and book a one day ticket! Not only are we helping you heal your wanderlust, but also giving you a chance to make the most out of any upcoming trips! 360Stories has got your back.

Next Level VR Partnerships

We are fully aware of how important this technology is for society in the future. It can help bring people together, closing large distances between them through virtual space, transport people to new and undiscovered parts of the world in situations where they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. It can go so far as to create digital training sessions for medical professionals or help people to overcome their phobias. Which is why so many investors and partners are willing to make new and more creative breakthroughs in the field.

So what does that mean for us? That’s right ladies and gentlemen, we have developed apps for new VR gear! We are looking forward to becoming a global player in the VR/AR scene. While our website is absolutely fantastic, our VR experiences promise to provide an even more exciting experience. Watch our videos, immerse yourself in hundreds of stories and even book experiences all through our convenient one-stop VR app. You can find us on Oculus Go and Gear VR where you can get the full immersive experience of VR that we have to offer!

That’s not all. If you’re a proud owner of Vive/Vive Pro and Vive Focus, you’ll be happy to know that our app is published there as well. You too will be able to get the feeling of actually traveling from the comfort of your home and get engaged with all of the stories that our community has to offer. And by the way, you’ll be excited to know that we’ll have an Augmented Reality (AR) Mobile App coming very soon!

Exciting Startup Developments

With 2019 we expect to expand and grow thanks to fresh accelerator programs and funding from our investors aimed at giving us chances to move forward full steam ahead. We have been accepted into the HTC Vive X accelerator, which is a huge accomplishment, as we’re counted as one of only 18 startups which were given that amazing opportunity. We are very proud to play our part of HTC Vive’s mission to help develop the VR ecosystem. With the help of their knowledge, collaboration and investment, we are looking forward to scaling rapidly in the coming months!

At the same time, we have been accepted in the Oculus Start program, where VR application developers who are just getting started, are provided with access, support and savings. This will give our skilled developers the chance to focus on cranking out the best possible 360Stories VR apps across many different platforms!  

Not only that, but we have also gained generous support from the European Union, in cooperation with the GIZ office in Yerevan and the EIF totaling to a sum of $41,000! We are so fortunate to have been able to rally so much encouragement from so many wonderful organizations who believe in our vision for the future of not only VR but the part that we have to play in it.

Industry Partnerships

We’re going global, which means we need some strategic partners to help us provide our users with the best of the best. It’s not only about expanding the number of destinations but also about keeping things authentic, highlighting unique stories that aren’t common knowledge but gems of information that only a true local would know. We want to really bring our destinations to life with our collection of real-life stories and immersive AR and VR technology. But we are now pushing to go beyond all of this by offering travelers the chance to really get to know their target destinations before taking that step to book. This coupled with our newest feature of booking tours and activities right on the spot, directly through a phone, desktop or VR headset will be guaranteeing them the same experiences in real time.

To truly offer the best quality of information and services, we will need some help from locals and savvy organizations. This is why we are happy to be increasing the number of strategic partnerships which will help us not only to build content but offer unique experiences (tours and activities). We also want to offer our platform to partners so that their guests and travelers can take a look at the different options awaiting them on their trip when they’re on a plane, in their hotel room, in a business lounge or on a cruise ship by exploring our application with a VR device. At the moment we are working with some of the top players in the industry including GetYourGuide.com, Viator.com and Tiqets.com and are looking forward to more partnerships down the line.

All of this exciting news means that we’re heading into 2019 with bigger and better plans than ever before, and every day we are getting closer to realizing the vision of 360Stories.