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Hulu is planning two VR-only shows

The news and comedy shows will be its first exclusive VR content.

AP Photo/Dan Goodman

Hulu's original programming ambitions are well-known at this point, but the company has a plan for a pair of new shows that's both totally expected as well as somewhat unusual. According to Variety, Hulu will stream two new shows made specifically with virtual reality in mind from Huffington Post's RYOT Studios. The Big Picture: News in Virtual Reality will be a daily news program and Virtually Mike and Nora will be a comedy featuring Nora Kirkpatrick (The Office, Greek) and Mike O'Brien.

Right now, Hulu has committed to five episodes for the comedy and 10 episodes of the news program, though there's no word yet on when they'll start airing. Both programs will be exclusively available in VR; there's no plan to make them available as 360-degree videos you watch over the web. The Big Picture: News in Virtual Reality will air every two weeks, with three segments in each episode picked out specifically because they'll work well in VR.

Virtually Mike and Nora will similarly use VR to pull viewers into the world. "I think we've come up with a way to break down the wall between performer and audience member, and explore comedy in 360 degrees," Kirkpatrick told Variety.

How Hulu will measure the success of these shows is unclear yet -- it's been almost a year since Samsung's Gear VR launched alongside a Hulu VR app, but the number of people with VR headsets still has to be significantly smaller than the company's total subscriber base.