Samsung has built ‘an entire VR ecosystem’ — with its own products, of course

Samsung wants you to start making your own virtual reality movies. And to do that, the company has launched its new Samsung Creators initiative and rebranded its VR video site to support user-generated content. It’s also selling its own 360 camera.

Samsung’s Creators is a way for the company to share its virtual reality tools with everyone from video bloggers to filmmakers in an effort to get them to create their own VR movies.

“We want to bring the power of VR technology directly to the people,” Samsung Electronics America’s chief marketing officer Marc Mathieu said in a press release.

“To help creators learn and perfect the art of VR storytelling, we’ve built an entire VR ecosystem that pushes beyond the frame and empowers them to develop unforgettable, immersive stories, and inspires us all to do the same.”

Filmmakers who shoot their own VR videos can also upload their work to Samsung’s Samsung VR (formerly Milk VR) platform. Once uploaded, anyone with access to Samsung VR, which is available through Samsung’s Gear VR headset, can view your content.

Of course, Samsung isn’t just building out its user-generated content capabilities for funsies; this is a massive multinational corporation we’re talking about. The goal of all of this is to get people to purchase Samsung’s line of VR products.

To that end, the company has announced its new Gear 360 VR camera is now on sale in the US for $350. The camera, which we spent a short time with back in February, is a nifty device that ensures you stay out of your shots be letting you control the camera via your smartphone. You can also shoot your VR video, cut it and share it directly from your Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

It’s also worth pointing out that $350 for a 360 camera seems like a great value. But I’ll have to give it a more thorough test drive before I can recommend it.

Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley or onGoogle+.