The North Face is bringing virtual reality (VR) to some of its stores in the U.S., and the brand is exploring opportunities and adaptations of this project for other parts of the world, but an official of the company said nothing is confirmed on this point for the moment. The brand's VR experience made its debut at South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive 2015, the trade show that took place in Austin, Texas, on March 13-17. The experience is now going to be offered to shoppers at the brand's stores in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Thanks to moviemaking techniques, which are the result of a collaboration with cinematic VR company Jaunt, shoppers are given an immersive tour of California's Yosemite National Park and the Moab desert in Utah, where they can rock climb and trek the landscapes alongside two North Face global athletes, Sam Elias and Cedar Wright. Jaunt's proprietary 360-degree, stereoscopic 3D cameras and 3D sound-fieldmicrophones give consumers a convincing sense of being present in the park and desert. In addition, the VR content places viewers right in the middle of the scenes, giving them complete freedom to look in any direction.

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