narrator: aaron koblin, a technologist working in silicon valley, is the co-founder of vrse, a virtual reality production and distribution company. koblin: usually it consists, in the portable form, of a mobile phone that connects directly into a viewer. so, whether that's a higher-end version like the gear vr with samsung or a google cardboard unit, you have basically the same idea--lenses which are-- using sensors to orient you and convince yourself that you're somewhere where you're not. this is the most basic vr viewer. it's a google cardboard. so, it comes like this and then you quickly assemble it like so. drop your phone in here like that. so, you can look around and actually be immersed. the way that i define virtual reality at this point in time is basically the hacking of your senses to convince you that you're somewhere other than where you are. often, i think of it as a sense of vulnerability. so, one of the things we've realized in some of our stories is you have a heightened sense of empathy and a heightened sense of connection as a result of that vulnerability. narrator: