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Netflix isn't interested in virtual reality (yet)

Netflix is a powerful force in TV and film.

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This is the company that helped popularize the concept of "cord-cutting" — leaving cable subscriptions behind in favor of a la carte viewing — and bankrolled new classics like "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black." Yet, despite all that innovation, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says he's not interested in what many see as the next evolution of personal entertainment: virtual reality.

"Chef's Table" food
An image from "Chef's Table," one of the many original series published by Netflix. Netflix/David Gelb

"We're really focused on movies and TV shows and doing more of those, which you can watch in a virtual reality headset if you want to," Hastings told Mashable France. "But we think most people will watch Netflix on a smartphone or a smart TV."

Indeed, Netflix has a VR application that puts you in a virtual living room with a virtual TV to watch Netflix on. It looks kind of like a virtual ski lodge:

Netflix VR
When using the Netflix VR app, you see this room from the perspective of someone sitting on the couch. It's a free app, available on Samsung's Gear VR headset. Netflix

There's an important difference to note here: Hastings is specifically saying that his company isn't creating any content that's VR native. It's one thing to watch standard content on a virtual TV within a VR headset; it's another thing entirely to create VR content that you experience from within VR. We're talking about content that essentially puts you in the show or movie.

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There are a few examples of this, mostly created by the company at the forefront of virtual reality: Facebook-owned Oculus VR. Oculus Story Studio is a section of the company, led by ex-Pixar employees, dedicated to creating films that you experience in VR. The first few films are animated shorts, named "Henry" and "Lost." The only way to watch these films is by using the Oculus Rift headset — a $600 VR gadget that requires a powerful computer to use.

Henry, a VR film by Oculus VR
An image from Oculus Story Studio short "Henry." Oculus VR

In that sense, it's still very early days for VR native content. It's logical for Netflix to remain skeptical of VR television and film, but Hastings is seemingly aware that Netflix's lack of commitment could come back to bite the company later on. In a 2015 interview with Wired, Hastings admitted as much:

We worry about movies and TV shows getting disrupted. As long as there's a strong market for movies and TV, we should be fine — nothing's going to out-internet the internet. So really, it's just that one day people might start looking at movies and TV as kind of like the novel: boring 19th-century stuff. And that in 15 years, there's Google Glass, combined with virtual reality and a morphine drip, and [when] you put all that together, it's an amazing experience, so you go: 'Watch Mad Men? Really?' That's the risk.

All of which is to say, yes, Netflix isn't creating virtual reality content yet. But in another five years? 10? That's a lot more likely.

Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

Netflix Virtual reality
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