Inspired by the innovative storytelling in One Strange Rock, we created the Astronaut Reality Helmet to bring this unique astronaut vantage-point even closer to those on Earth. Housed in a replica space helmet, the projection technology creates an immersive viewing experience through a unique combination of laser projection, custom fish-eye optics and in-built audio.

Unlike in-market VR headsets, the helmet offers an exceptionally wide field of view and is designed so the user can freely move their head inside of the dome to look around the entire field of vision, just as an astronaut would within their helmet in space.

We launched the helmet in a unique way: inviting leading journalists to what they thought was a screening, but when they arrived we outfitted them with harnesses, revealing the footage wouldn’t be on a traditional screen but inside the helmets being placed on their heads.

From there, we took the helmet on the road as an ambassador for science, traveling to planetariums, schools and science centers across the country.

* Season to date, One Strange Rock averaged 0.42/361 L+3 P25-54 rating for four episodes, up +91% versus quarter average.

* DVR Lift from L+SD to L+3 continued to be strong, at +50%, much higher than the non-fiction series average for NGC in fiscal 2018 of 31%.

* Reach was +13% higher than NGC’s non-fiction average: 0.76% for OSR vs. 0.67% for non-fiction average

* Average time spent viewing was also higher by 4 minutes: 31 minutes for OSR vs. 27 minutes for non-fiction average

In this campaign we flipped a run-of-the-mill screening on it’s head by creating a new kind of media.

Instead of a traditional press conference we gave journalists a totally unique technological adventure that only the show One Strange Rock could deliver. And in the process, we invented a new type of virtual reality. The Astronaut Reality Helmet. It’s the best way to experience content from the show.

We then took twenty-five helmets on the road as an ambassador for science, traveling to planetariums, schools and science centers across the country; including the Lincoln Center and Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.

We wanted to reach our core target for National Geographic — an audience that’s seen everything already, that’s already on the cutting edge of technology and gadget releases.

They are the Everyday Explorers. The movers and shakers. They don’t aim for fame or glory, but rather the thrill of having a new perspective or experiencing the familiar through new eyes. They are sometimes known to be discontent with answers, but that’s because they have huge imaginations and a dissatisfaction with how often people gloss over topics. Nothing is a face value, and by challenging the status quo and digging deeper, they uncover new meaning. This is something they share in common with NG’s community of explorers.

With the Astronaut Reality Helmet we wanted to surprise them with a technology they’ve never experienced before.

This past spring National Geographic premiered One Strange Rock, an event series from Darren Aronofsky and Nutopia. The show tells the story of Earth, told from the only people who have ever left it: astronauts.

But only 536 brave souls have actually been to space. It requires years of training and education, millions of dollars and state-of-the-art technology. So to promote the show how do we recreate that experience without requiring viewers to leave the planet?