Kyt Dotson with SiliconANGLE spoke with two VR insiders Jon “Neverdie” Jacobs from Neverdie Studios and Dipak Patel co-founder and CEO of Zeality Inc. about the future VR has and what’s to be expected in 2018.  They both seem optimistic of the technological advances that will be making virtual reality easier to acquire.  A lot of 360-degree equipment to produce and watch virtual reality content is as of right now pretty pricey.  But as the demand grows the price will naturally come down and now the innovations for the devices are finally meeting to allow more users to access the equipment.

As for right now, producing virtual reality and 360-degree video is in the present.  With many camera and housing setups like the 360Rize Yi 360Orb and the affordable YI 360 VR Camera available now, novice filmmakers and content creators can get a hold of this technology now.  For those more experienced and ambitious, the Samsung 360 Round Camera is the best option for those serious about diving into virtual reality.  The diversity in the technology in these products plus the experience levels being met by the manufacturers, this is proof that virtual reality content will only grow.

The year 2018 may be the start of VR hitting the mainstream as headsets come into their second generation and will become cheaper, lighter and easier to use. Head-mounted displays released from Facebook Inc.’s Oculus VR, HTC Corp. and Sony Corp. in 2016 and 2017 can cost anywhere from $400 to $800, which is a barrier to wide adoption.

“I don’t expect the headsets to fly off the shelves,” Patel told SiliconANGLE, imagining a ramp-up in the market. “Rather, I see steady but small growth within the video game community driving the majority of it. They will get smaller and more consumer-friendly.”

“I predict constant progress with the technology, which is going to make it sexier and sexier,” Jacobs told SiliconANGLE, “in particular ‘inside-out’ and ‘eye tracking’ for VR.”

The concept of “inside out” tracking is that VR headsets can keep track of orientation and position in space – basically how a VR game or environment would allow a user to look around and move around. With inside-out tracking, the headset determines its own position with sensors without the need for a room to be outfitted with extra hardware and sensors.

Eye tracking, in particular, will be fundamental to VR technology in 2018. This is because rendering a VR experience even, on tiny screens near the eyes, takes a lot of computer power. That limits how games, entertainment and apps that can be written.

The year 2018 also has something else weird going for it: more movies that use VR as a foundation for the plot such as “Ready Player One,” expected to release in March. “Ready Player One” posits a dystopian future, a world wrecked by an energy crisis, in which much of the world is wired in to virtual reality, and VR is the way people interact, play games and experience entertainment….[continue reading]

VR headsets have been available for over a year now, and more content is constantly being developed for them. We should expect that rate to increase as new headset models are being released from established technology companies, prompted in part by the new VR features expected in Microsoft’s next update to Windows 10. As the potential customer base increases, the software continues to mature, and the content offerings broaden. And with the advances in graphics processing technology, we are finally getting to a point where it is feasible to edit videos in VR, on a laptop.

While a full VR experience requires true 3D content, in order to render a custom perspective based on the position of the viewer’s head, there is a “video” version of VR, which is called 360 Video. The difference between “Full VR” and “360 Video,” is that while both allow you to look around every direction, 360 Video is pre-recorded from a particular point, and you are limited to the view from that spot. You can’t move your head to see around behind something, like you can in true VR. But 360 video can still offer a very immersive experience and arguably better visuals, since they aren’t being rendered on the fly. 360 video can be recorded in stereoscopic or flat, depending on the capabilities of the cameras used.

Stereoscopic is obviously more immersive, less of a video dome and inherently supported by the nature of VR HMDs (Head Mounted Displays). I expect that stereoscopic content will be much more popular in 360 Video than it ever was for flat screen content. Basically the viewer is already wearing the 3D glasses, so there is no downside, besides needing twice as much source imagery to work with, similar to flat screen stereoscopic.

There are a variety of options for recording 360 video, from a single ultra-wide fisheye lens on the Fly360, to dual 180-degree lens options like the Gear 360, Nikon KeyMission, and Garmin Virb. GoPro is releasing the Fusion, which will fall into this category as well. The next step is more lens, with cameras like the Orah4i or the Insta360 Pro. Beyond that, you are stepping into the much more expensive rigs with lots of lenses and lots of stitching, but usually much higher final image quality, like the GoPro Omni or the Nokia Ozo. There are also countless rigs that use an array of standard cameras to capture 360 degrees, but these solutions are much less integrated than the all-in-one products that are now entering the market. Regardless of the camera you use, you are going to be recording one or more files in a pixel format fairly unique to that camera that will need to be processed before it can be used in the later stages of the post workflow…[continue reading]

Samsung’s been working on a 360 degree disc-shaped camera for some time now — essentially three years. Samsung announced back in 2014 that they were working on a 360 project called Project Beyond, but there’s hasn’t been any news since 2016. Despite the disappearance of Project Beyond, Samsung has just launched a new 360 camera called the 360 Round that looks like a more refined version of Project Beyond.

The 360 Round has 17 2-megapixel cameras and six microphones (and two mic ports), which work together to create 3D VR video. Samsung says that it’s powerful enough to live stream 4K VR at 30 fps.

Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics Global Mobile B2B Team, Suk-Jea Hahn through a press release detailed what they were trying to achieve with the 360 Round. “The Samsung 360 Round is a testament to our leadership in the VR market. We have developed a product that contains innovative VR features, allowing video producers and broadcast professionals to easily produce high quality 3D content. The 360 Round is the only professional camera to offer the combination of livestreaming capabilities, IP65 water and dust resistance and eight stereoscopic lenses. This makes it ideal for a broad range of use cases our customers want — from live streaming major events to filming at training facilities across various industries.”…[continue reading]

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – OCTOBER 18, 2017 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. introduces the 360 Round, a new camera for developing and streaming high-quality 3D content for specialists and enthusiasts who demand a superior virtual reality (VR) experience. Announced at the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC 2017), the Samsung 360 Round uses 17 lenses—eight stereo pairs positioned horizontally and one single lens positioned vertically—to livestream 4K 3D video and spatial audio, and create engaging 3D images with depth.

The 360 Round’s durable, compact design features IP65¹ water and dust resistance for use in everyday weather conditions and a fanless design to reduce weight and eliminate background noise. With additional features, including PC software for controlling and stitching and expandable external storage², the 360 Round provides long lasting shooting for any sized job.

The growth of 360 content platforms, such as Samsung VR, Facebook and YouTube, as well as the spread of 360 videos through major media, has increased the need for high-quality 360 videos among VR professionals and enthusiasts. The 360 Round is the first product to meet these needs by combining high-quality, 360-degree imagery with advanced 3D depth at a reasonable price compared to other professional 360 cameras.

“The Samsung 360 Round is a testament to our leadership in the VR market. We have developed a product that contains innovative VR features, allowing video producers and broadcast professionals to easily produce high quality 3D content,” said Suk-Jea Hahn, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics’ Global Mobile B2B Team. “The combination of livestreaming capabilities, IP65 water and dust resistance and 17 lenses makes this camera ideal for a broad range of use cases our customers want—from livestreaming major events to filming at training facilities across various industries.”

The Samsung 360 Round combines high-quality images with a durable design and a content management software solution that allows VR directors to transform virtual reality through a complete set of advanced features.

High-Quality 360 Content

The 360 Round offers high-quality 3D images with a 4K camera, thanks to 17 paired lenses that capture a 360-degree view for a full 3D experience. In addition, the 360 Round enables live streaming with little-to-no latency³ and broadcasts easier than ever, with one-step stitching and control software provided by Samsung.

Durability

The Samsung 360 Round uses a uni-body chassis designed to reduce heat, removing the need for a cooling fan and minimizing size and weight. The compact design helps eliminate excess noise and reduce power consumption for hours of continuous shooting. Additionally, the 360 Round is IP65¹ dust and water resistant, making it an ideal choice for capturing content in the most challenging environments. With expandable connectors and ports, the 360 Round is designed to easily and quickly connect to additional equipment, such as an external mic, and storage for saving large files.

Get a Samsung Gear VR, connect to the Samsung VR service on August 17, and experience the magic of Coldplay’s performance at no additional cost, while sitting comfortably at home.

Samsung Electronics America and Live Nation will broadcast Coldplay’s “A Head Full of Dreams Tour” live in virtual reality from Chicago’s Soldier Field for the first time ever. It’s promised to be a unique experience, and it may well set the path for new explorations of Virtual Reality, and maybe change the way many people participate in live events. Or should I write live virtual events?

The idea of a VR broadcast of a concert may appear to some as something completely new and revolutionary, but it is only the result of a long path we’ve walked since the first virtual experiences, whether in virtual worlds or games, were introduced by computers.

Virtual events are nothing new to me, as I started covering them in Second Life, an online world that was all the rage back in mid 2000, and a mandatory destination for every newspaper and TV, some of which had virtual offices there – CNN, Reuters, BBC or Sky News. Journalists from the real world were also “embedded” in Second Life, writing real news about a virtual world accessed through a computer…[continue reading]

Our friends at Facebook have announced their Live 360 Ready Program, and we’re proud to be leading the pack of software partners. The announcement came with several updates to the Facebook Live platform, including the support of 360° streams in 4K resolution. This means you can now connect your Orah, Nokia Ozo, 360 Fly, Insta 360, Giroptic or other cameras, and stream in the highest quality possible. 

The recent rise of 360º video allows viewers to be virtually transported to a live event, such as a sporting event, concert or political rally. But to feel like you’re there, you need the highestquality possible. Resolution is critical when you need to show depth of field, crystal-clear images and rich color. Facebook has already led other platforms in playback innovations with its cube-mapping and pyramid-projection technology. Now, with the support of 4K content, Facebook gives content creators the ability to deliver breathtaking experiences to the world’s largest audience.

Our Wowza Streaming Cloud service is the leading platform to deliver high-quality 360° and virtual reality content to Facebook Live viewers around the globe. More content creators and event broadcasters trust Wowza to simplify their workflows and scale delivery, including:

• Lollapalooza
• The Oscars
• President Obama’s farewell address
• Conan360
• The Seattle Seahawks

We’re excited to be a part of Facebook’s Live 360 Ready Program, and look forward to powering the next wave of groundbreaking events. Are you in? 

Watch the Video: Streaming Forum 2017—Evolution of Virtual Reality and 360° Live Streaming

To learn how new trends and technology in VR and 360° are being applied in a real use case, check out this presentation by Wowza’s own Streaming Video Technologist, Ryan Jespersen, and Gordon Charles, Analyst Developer at University College London, from Streaming Forum 2017: click here for video.

Have you experienced live 360-degree videos?  If you have it’s probably from a concert or a sporting event you couldn’t get to in person.  Now Facebook is getting in on the act with announcing their Live 360 Ready Program.  With the help from Wowza Streaming Cloud services, now you can stream live 360-degree videos yourself for Facebook Live.  For content creators this is an amazing opportunity to work with 360 video technology and get instant feedback from those watching.  For viewers, here is another way to enjoy the technological advances just that much easier.

The recent rise of 360º video allows viewers to be virtually transported to a live event, such as a sporting event, concert or political rally. But to feel like you’re there, you need the highestquality possible. Resolution is critical when you need to show depth of field, crystal-clear images and rich color. Facebook has already led other platforms in playback innovations with its cube-mapping and pyramid-projection technology. Now, with the support of 4K content, Facebook gives content creators the ability to deliver breathtaking experiences to the world’s largest audience….[continue reading]

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

Over the past several years, Wowza has seen growing interest in virtual reality (VR) and 360° viewing experiences. In the ever-evolving landscape that is live streaming, these technologies are emerging as two of the most innovative trends, powering use cases across industries—from concerts and events to security, education and even live medical surgeries.

Investment in VR and 360° hardware, software and delivery technology has been booming for the past few years, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. Facebook led the charge by acquiring Oculus for $2 billion in 2014, and in 2016, released the first consumer VR headset with the Oculus Rift. The Pokemon Go mobile app became a surprise global augmented-reality phenomenon in 2016, with $600 million in revenue just in the first three months.

Today, the world’s largest corporations are all investing heavily in VR and 360° development, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Sony and Samsung, in addition to Facebook. Even the U.S. Army is beginning to use VR technology to train soldiers.

VR vs. 360°

So, what’s the difference between VR and 360° video? VR immerses you in a new, virtual environment that does not physically exist. This environment can be computer-generated through self-contained software that may be downloaded and saved to a machine, or it can be live-streamed; video games are the most common example.
On the other hand, 360° video transports viewers into a real, immersive, live-streaming experience that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to, and that can’t be installed on a machine—for example, a live broadcast of a concert or sporting event that gives viewers a seat from the stands. For the purposes of this post, we’ll focus on 360° video, as this is the most applicable for streaming workflows.

Anyone who has used Google Street View or Bing Streetside in a browser has already experienced interactive 360° photography, in which you move through a scene by tapping and panning. You can now have similar experiences with on-demand and live video streams, too—for example, in mobile apps that change the scene based on the position and motion of your device. (Explore 360° videos on the Facebook 360 page.)

The Playback Reality of VR/360°

VR goggles take 360° visual experiences even further by adjusting what you see based on which direction your face is pointing. To these, 360° content creators can add additional sensory cues. For example, platforms such as Virtuix Omni allow you to seemingly walk in any direction. Some players are also integrating 360° audio; while VR goggles still require you to use headphones, they provide accurate, directional sound that match your field of vision (FOV) to what you’re hearing and the source audio.

Click here to read the full article on Wowza