You can now tour the White House in 360-degree VR

Ever imagined yourself strolling through the corridors of power in the US? Or maybe just being an extra on the West Wing? Then you'll be keen to take advantage of the official virtual reality tour of the White House that's just been launched.

The VR experience, available on the Oculus Rift and Gear VR, and on the web, is actually a guided tour led by none other than outgoing President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle. It's also a bit of a retrospective on their last eight years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"This house belongs to you, and to every American," says Obama. "For eight years, just a short chapter in the long story of our democracy, my family also had the privilege of calling the White House home."

Tour de force

Like any of the 360-degree videos uploaded to Facebook, if you're watching through a web browser, you can click and drag to look all the way around. You can't just run off into any room you like, however - you have to stick to the tour.

As you would expect, the video - which runs a little over eight minutes - takes you through some of the most iconic rooms in the President's home, from the Situation Room to the Oval Office.

And the creatives behind Félix & Paul Studios, who made the video, have said they're planning to make a much longer version at some point in the future. In the meantime strap on your VR headset and take a look inside one of the world's most famous landmarks.

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.