There’s nothing quite like walking into a video store, looking at the rows of boxes, and selecting a movie to watch.  It was one of my favorite things as a kid, and one of the few reasons why I went to Blockbusters right down to the end of their run.  Even after Blockbuster folded, I remained a loyal customer of my local video store until the owner closed it down to open a Pilates studio.  Scrolling through streaming options just isn’t the same, but maybe… just maybe… it can be.  Netflix has been reimagined as a virtual video store, right down to VHS boxes to select for its movies and original series.

Unfortunately, this probably won’t be a future option for Netflix.  As the company continues to move away from physical media, the idea of a brick-and-mortar Netflix store seems to grow ever fainter; however, Amazon has bookstores now, so… you never know just how these things are going to work.  Still, the virtual reality interface, while cool, is a bit unwieldy; to play a video, your virtual self has to throw it against the wall so it will play.  Still, as an idea, that’s really fun, and it’s a nice reminder of the good old days of video stores.

“As always, while we think these hacks are very cool and fun, they may never become part of the Netflix product, internal infrastructure, or otherwise be used beyond Hack Day.  We are posting them here publicly to simply share the spirit of the event and our culture of innovation,” reads Netflix’s Spring 2016 Hack Day blog post.

Tags: netflix, netflix hack day, netflix spring 2016 hack day, hack day 2016, netflix hack day ideas, virtual reality, virtual video store, netflix video store, netflix virtual reality video store, unusual images, unusual ideas, virtual reality video store, virtual reality netflix store

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