You Can Now View Philly on a Virtual Reality Headset

A screenshot of VISIT PHILADELPHIA’s new virtual reality, 360-degree tour of the Art Museum steps. Courtesy photo.

There’s now a new way to view Philly’s top destinations, and it involves bleeding-edge technology. On Friday, Visit Philadelphia announced that Philly visitors, before coming to the city, can get a peek at its most popular destinations through online virtual reality tours.

On visitphilly.com/VR, visitors can now explore 25 panoramic 360-degree photos and a three-minute, 360-degree video using a virtual reality headset. The photos include shots of locations like the Ben Franklin Bridge, Independence Mall, Elfreth’s Alley, Boathouse Row, and the Rocky steps at the Art Museum.

Visitors can also view the photos and video, shot by virtual reality marketing company, YouVisit, through the “Visit Philly” app on an Android or iPhone.

“Everyday we give online visitors compelling reasons to plan a trip to Philadelphia, and we believe this new view of the city will give the 20 million people who use visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com each year eve more reasons to visit and do more while they’re here,” said Visit Philadelphia president and CEO Meryl Levitz in a statement.

This isn’t the first time Philly’s dabbled in virtual reality. In October, the Franklin Institute launched its virtual reality exhibit along with a mobile app to house a library of virtual reality content.

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