Virtual reality walks in Snowzilla

Posted by on January 23, 2016

As NYC retires into the grip of Jonas I thought it might be fun to go for a wintery hike. So many stories are popping up right now that I was tempted to go experience a bit of it firsthand. At the same time, I thought I could make an interesting contribution to the topic if I snapped a bunch of photospheres, Google’s VR-ready photos. If you have a Cardboard viewer, download one of the photos down below and load it up for full on virtual reality. Get the visual experience of Snowzilla from the comfort of your warm couch.

If you don’t have a Google Cardboard compatible viewer, you can just use the Google Streetview embeds below to look around at Brooklyn in Snowzilla. If you have a Google Cardboard device, throw it on your camera and load up the links below!

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This is right by my apartment and was the first photosphere I captured. The streets were immediately different in appearance. Row after row of entombed cars. People walking in the street to avoid the knee-high drifts of snow on the sidewalks. And cars getting stuck every time they didn’t make a light at an uphill intersection…

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It was strange to think of how many times I’ve passed the Kosciuszko Pool in beautiful weather but had never stepped foot inside. Someone had swung open the gate and was using the cabanas to park cars out of the snow. So besides a few illegally parked cars, I had it all to myself.

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My favorite photosphere of the hike I captured from the waterfront. The East River was empty and quiet. The bridge didn’t seem to connect Brooklyn to anything but clouds.

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Seeing the bridge from down below made me want to see it from up above too. Surprisingly there was a meager but steady flow of people walking across the pathway. The top reminded me less of a bridge and more of the peak of a mountain on a bad day. The wind whipped and the snow stung at times. That is one thing I really like about the raw Google Cardboard camera, it also captures a loop of sound, making the VR come even more to life.

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Downtown Williamsburg. A few bars remained open and a number of snowball fights were breaking out and dispersing on the streets. The number of windows with upturned stools and dinner tables reminded me more of a Maine coastal town in winter than of Brooklyn.

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McCarren Park had a good amount of life in it. People were playing tag football, parents were pull heavy sleds of children and the dogs were running like mad. Overall, it made the storm feel pretty playful and pleasant.

Williamsburg at night