About 500,000 people who purchase newsstand versions of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue will also get a Quad/Graphics’ Quad Virtual Reality Viewer to access the magazine’s first virtual reality videos.
The virtual reality experience includes behind-the-scenes content and what the magazine calls “intimate access” with five featured models. Readers can download the SI Swim 2016 app, place their smartphones in the QVR Viewer and launch the app.
The Sussex-based printer announced today the foldable headsets were included in select newsstand versions of the issue. The company described the units as “much less expensive, lighter, thinner and more flexible than more widely known units such as Google Cardboard.”
“Publishers are looking for new and innovative ways to connect more with their readership,” said Joel Quadracci, Quad/Graphics chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The QVR Viewer allows them to provide enhanced digital experiences that complement and extend their brand, or advertisers’ brands, beyond traditional print or digital content.”
Quad/Graphics said advertisers are able to brand and print four-color process on the unit’s outer shell. The viewers can be bound or stitched into magazines or catalogs onserted into paper or polywrap, placed in a carton or distributed as a stand-alone piece.
“Compared to other paper viewers, the QVR Viewer is an economical way to reach readers and consumers with a fully branded gateway to digital content,” Quadracci said.
