Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach wrote in their book, "The Elements of Journalism," says that journalism is defined by the function that news plays in the lives of people. But what function do people's lives play in journalism?

The New York Times has been at the forefront of journalism for 119 years now. Throughout its history, the New York-based publication has garnered 117 Pulitzer prize awards and have introduced several innovations. Now, it is looking to add to that resume of innovations.

With the virtual reality storm that is already upon us, The New York Times is taking the next step ahead of the pack and has started to incorporate VR technology to better its news journalistic prowess. Instead of the expected application for games, the publication is starting to implement for presenting stories in a more immersive manner.

Last Thursday, the New York Times introduced a new virtual reality app, aptly named NYT VR, which were made available for both Android and iOS. To mark the app's debut, the publication released a couple of feature film, which are in line with the global refugee crisis that the publication covered this week.

The first one is "The Displaced," which will give a peek on the lives of three children - Oleg, Hana and Chuol - who are in a Syrian refugee camp within Lebanon after conflict displaced them from their homes in Ukraine and South Sudan. The 10-minute long film was directed by Ben C. Solomon, a video journalist and was shot by Imraan Ismail of the Vrse studio.

The other film will center the making of "Walking New York," a New York Times cover. The film was shot back in April.

"We didn't promote this project at the time, but we were happy enough with the results to begin making plans for the film that we're releasing now," says The New York Times' Jake Silverstein.

To watch the films, the free app from Google Play and the App Store must first be installed and thereafter, the films can be downloaded. Print subscribers will have a Google Cardboard VR mailed to them this weekend. But while the films are promoted for a VR head mount, they can still be viewed without them.

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