Maasai people of East Africa and the nomads of Mongolia experience VR for the first time.

This Christmas, two remote communities on opposite sides of the planet were given an incredible experience through the power of next generation virtual reality technology.

The nomadic herders of Mongolia and the Maasai people of East Africa were given a series of amazing experiences, the likes of which they had never seen before.

Samsung travelled to a Maasai village in Kenya and a remote nomadic family in Mongolia with Samsung Gear VR technology to show the indigenous people incredible content from around the world, including; surfing in Hawaii, paragliding across the Brazilian coast, skydiving in Dubai, extreme Kayaking, swimming in the Great Barrier Reef, skiing across the French Alps, riding the tallest rollercoasters in the world and experiencing what life is like in busy cityscapes.

The way of life of the Maasai people in the Great Rift Valley and the nomads of Mongolia has remained unchanged for thousands of years and they were blown away by the experience.

A camera crew captured reactions as they watched the content and documented their emotional responses. The production team also created incredible 360 VR content on location in Africa and Mongolia, using the Samsung Gear 360 camera, which is available to view on the Samsung YouTube channel.

Conor Pierce, Vice President of IT & Mobile for Samsung UK and Ireland, said, “Gear VR opens up a world of possibilities and has the potential to instantly transport you to new worlds and environments. We wanted to bring that transformative experience to two of the most remote communities in the world. The reactions from the nomadic herders of Mongolia and the Maasai people of East Africa have been amazing to watch and it is incredible to hear their feedback.”

The production crew who filmed the content flew out to Mongolia and battled temperatures of -30 degrees celsius.

The team then continued their travels to the blistering heat of Kenya to visit the legendary Maasai warriors, who honoured their presence with a traditional welcome dance.