Amazon Prime Video is heading into virtual reality now that the app has launched on Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Quest VR headsets.
Prime members in the U.S. and the U.K. can watch content from the Amazon Prime video catalog along with 10 different 360-degree videos including short film “INVASION!” The company said it will continue to add more VR-specific content. Non-Prime members can also use the app to watch anything in personal libraries.
The app also allows for voice search.
RELATED: Sling TV has a new co-watching feature for the Oculus Go VR headset
Amazon Prime Video is just the latest streaming video service to launch an app on Oculus Go and other VR headsets. The Oculus Store includes apps from Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, Pluto TV, Fox Now, ESPN, Showtime, Facebook Watch, Newsy and Redbull TV. Like the YouTube VR app, the new Prime Video VR app is catering with content more tailored for viewing in VR.
Last month, Sling TV began a beta launch for a new co-watching feature for its app. Sling TV customers can turn on their Oculus Go headset and choose to form a party and invite other Oculus users. The party host can open the Oculus TV app and then enter the Sling TV app to stream live TV and on-demand titles while sitting on a virtual couch next to the other party guests’ avatars.
Despite a respectable amount of content and games for virtual reality headsets – and options like Oculus Go driving down the cost of ownership – virtual reality has yet to tap into much of the U.S. marketplace. According to Parks Associates, 8% of U.S. broadband households own a VR headset, while just 25% are familiar with VR headsets. The research firm’s new study, "Virtual Reality: The Evolving Ecosystem," found that consumer familiarity with VR technology stayed stuck on approximately one-fourth of U.S. broadband households between 2017 and 2018.