Critically Acclaimed Experience Expands to Newest Immersive Platform with Exclusive Features and a Limited-Time $0.99 Offer Through EOY; Deepens Creative Alliance with the Award-winning XR Studio

BYRON BAY, NSW, AUSTRALIA AND LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, October 21, 2025 — New Canvas today announced that its award-winning immersive project, Atlas Obscura VR, is available as a launch title on the highly anticipated Samsung’s Galaxy XR (aka “Project Moohan”) mixed reality headset powered by Google’s Android XR platform. On Moohan, users will experience the most visually stunning and feature-rich version of the app to date complete with Android XR-exclusive eye-tracking and the highest resolution yet available. The headset is the first major product to be built on the new Android XR platform.

This expansion to Samsung’s platform marks the next evolution in New Canvas’ partnership with Atlas Obscura and a milestone moment for the studio, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. The new app release also adds to New Canvas’ roster of trusted XR partnerships, which now includes Meta, Samsung and Google, reinforcing its position as a global presence in XR storytelling. To celebrate the launch and welcome new audiences to Samsung’s platform, for a limited-time Atlas Obscura VR on Galaxy XR is available in the Google Play store for a special price of just $0.99 (regularly $12.99) through the end of 2025.

“Atlas Obscura has always been about embracing curiosity and empowering discovery. VR allows us to extend that mission in a deeply personal and transportive way. Working with New Canvas as a trusted partner to launch Atlas Obscura VR on a groundbreaking new platform like Android XR is both thrilling and inspiring,” said Doug Baldinger, Atlas Obscura Entertainment’s Chief Content Officer. 

The World’s Hidden Wonders, Now in Unprecedented Detail

Atlas Obscura VR invites audiences to travel beyond conventional guidebooks, immersing them in some of the world’s most unusual, mysterious and awe-inspiring places. Whether marveling at the beauty of remote natural landscapes or uncovering the secrets of human ingenuity, virtual travelers will find themselves transported to the extraordinary corners of our world from within their homes.

Atlas Obscura VR takes users on an unforgettable journey through three interactive episodes, each blending high-quality 360° video, detailed photogrammetry and narration by the authors of the Atlas Obscura book. The immersive experience also includes photos and imagery of 50+ global destinations from the Atlas Obscura archives as well as three fully interactive and immersive episodes. These episodes cover a diverse range of destinations including:

• Turda Salt Mine: a salt mine in Romania that’s also the world’s most spectacular underground formation shaped by people
• Winchester Mystery House: a spooky mega-mansion in California
• Temples of Damanhur: a subterranean, living lab for the future, created by a federation of spiritual communities in the Italian Alps

A New Format for Immersive, Factual Storytelling

The Atlas Obscura VR experience treads the fine line between interactivity and passive narrative, arriving at a sense of ‘audience agency’ that should deepen the experience and provide a personalised unique journey, while not demanding too much of the audience.

“Atlas Obscura VR has always been about transforming curiosity into experience, inviting audiences to explore, not just observe. With Samsung’s Galaxy XR, that sense of discovery reaches a new level of realism and connection, while the fidelity, interactivity and presence of the new headset bring that vision into sharper focus. This is the future we imagined when we first created the app,” said Nathan Anderson, Co-Founder & Executive Producer, New Canvas. “We’ve gone far beyond a simple port, remastering content and reimagining the user experience for eye-tracking and next-generation storytelling. It’s thrilling that the journey which began on Samsung Gear VR now continues on their most advanced XR device yet.”

The re-release builds on New Canvas’s commitment to creating meaningful, immersive storytelling experiences. By utilizing the new Samsung platform, the app delivers seamless interactivity and immersive presence, driving the key benefits of virtual reality.

“Launching Atlas Obscura VR on Samsung’s ‘Project Moohan’ with Android XR demonstrates how New Canvas is forging the next chapter of immersive storytelling,” said Wadooah Wali, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, New Canvas. “With partnerships now spanning Meta, Samsung and Google, we are building a global network that amplifies our creative work and helps shape the future of XR. As we mark our fifth anniversary, this moment is both a celebration of our progress and a preview of the future we’re creating.”

Launched in 2017 and remastered in 2024, Atlas Obscura VR has become a landmark in immersive factual storytelling. Originally developed and produced by Start VR (now known as Start Beyond), the Atlas Obscura VR app was transferred to New Canvas when the company was spun out of Start VR in late 2020. New for Samsung XR, the Atlas Obscura VR experience is now available in the Google Play store.

Download the app today! 

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About Atlas Obscura:

Atlas Obscura is an Emmy and James Beard award-winning media and travel company. Widely celebrated for building the definitive, community-driven platform for discovering the world’s hidden wonders, we also publish best selling books, make the #1 travel podcast in the world, offer top-of-class storytelling, and once-in-a-lifetime trips. Our community-driven platform is the Atlas itself, a collection of more than 30,000 wondrous places around the world. It is a collaborative project. We depend on our community of explorers to help us discover amazing places and share them with the world. www.atlasobscura.com 

About New Canvas:

New Canvas is an award-winning XR studio committed to pushing the boundaries of immersive media. With a focus on socially relevant storytelling, we create compelling and innovative experiences for breakthrough platforms that captivates and resonates with global audiences. New Canvas is focused on developing content and formats to help drive mainstream adoption of immersive media and is a founding member of the Byron Bay XR Collective. We honour Australia’s First Nations Peoples, acknowledging the Arakwal, the traditional custodians of the Bundjalung Country, on which New Canvas was founded. For additional information, please visit: www.newcanvas.co.

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Media Contacts:

Atlas Obscura

rebecca@atlasobscura.com 

New Canvas

hi@newcanvas.co