The Story Behind the VR App of the Year

The Beginning

It started at 17, filming diving students in Thailand. There was something magical about capturing moments that let people experience places they'd never been. That spark never went away.

Years later, while living in a motorhome traveling across New Zealand, that idea evolved. What if you could truly transport someone to another place? Not just show them a video, but make them feel like they were actually there?

Learning to Build

When Apple announced Vision Pro, everything clicked. This was the platform that could finally deliver on that vision of true presence. There was just one problem: no coding experience.

So began months of teaching Swift, learning Xcode, and building something from nothing. Six weeks after Vision Pro launched, Explore POV was live on the App Store. A working app, built by someone who'd never written code before.

Growing Together

What started as an experiment has grown to 100,000+ downloads and 190 immersive journeys across 23 countries. We add new destinations regularly. Every video is carefully crafted to make you forget you're wearing a headset.

The technology keeps improving. What started as 4K evolved to 8K, and now reaches up to 16K with the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera. The goal is always the same: make you feel like you're really there.

Recognition & Research

Explore POV has been featured by Apple, Forbes, TechRadar, and Gear Patrol, and contributed footage to BBC Click. CBS Detroit covered how immersive video is being studied as a tool for mental health support.

Researchers at the University of Michigan are running an early-stage study into how immersive video affects wellbeing, and Oxford University is recruiting for a study on the same question.

Who Makes Explore POV

Explore POV was founded by New Zealand filmmaker James Hustler and is made by a small team that films, edits, and builds everything in-house. No stock footage, no outsourced shoots, one consistent eye behind every frame.