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@lionelchok
Keep in Touch!
This is a blog that I started when I first pivoted my career from Media to Tech! Check it out and stay in touch!
www.linkedin.com/in/lionelchok
www.facebook.com/lionelCKH
https://twitter.com/lionelchok
Why Virtual Reality is More Than Just a Buzzphrase for The Film Industry
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-virtual-reality-more-just-030000345.html
BroadcastAsia2017 International Conference speaker, Lionel Chok, Startup Founder/Creative Technologist, Immersively, shares how VR storytelling is growing fast
SINGAPORE, Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- What do lights, cameras and black chunky headsets have in common? For years, movie theatres have tried different tricks to get audiences into their doors - extra wide screens, surround sound systems, 3D films, and most recently Virtual Reality (VR). As the industry grapples with the transition from physical media to a more digital-centric business model, it has to create new revenue streams. The Martian for example, was one of the first commercial VR efforts to come out of Hollywood.
The ways in which audiences interact with the stories they love has changed. Technology has enabled new creative tools and forms of mass distribution, altering the landscape so fundamentally that it's hard to remember when it wasn't common to interact with every beloved property via memes, cosplay, video remixes, and other forms of fandom. Interactivity and immersion aren't just add-ons; they have become essential elements of the entertainment experience.
Look no further to the recent Sundance Film Festival, which has traditionally been the home for challenging films that are willing to test the boundaries of independent cinema. But in an era where entertainment is no longer confined to the limitations of a screen, it's time for these risks to take place in a virtual landscape.
At this year's Sundance Film Festival, artists are utilizing audiences' bodies as platforms for new storytelling projects. Instead of having the audience sit and passively watch a film, they are creating new worlds that enable audiences to see into the future and experience the changing ways audiences will interact with each other. In 2017, there are nearly 50 of such of projects, and they are far more powerful than simply lounging in cinema seats and tossing popcorn into your mouth.
VR has long been a feature of the Sundance Film Festival in that there have been small, gimmicky demonstrations, but reports from this year's festival indicate signs of an industry that's starting to grow up and get serious. The notion of filming in 360 degrees offers the chance to step into a movie and feel completely immersed, bringing new interest, challenges and possibilities to the movie world.
One of the best things about video content is its ability to transport you to different places and times, and with VR, that effect is even stronger, and the experience even more immersive. It engages the audience in a different way; you can't see the whole scene at once, you have to move your head around as you would in the actual physical environment, and one viewing may not be enough for you to see all there is to see. Audiences are also less distractible, which is the winning ingredient in a multiscreen world. It could also open the door to new forms of brand exposure for companies, translating to new advertising and sales channels for traditional broadcasters and filmmakers.
If audiences are going to be interested in VR content, beyond the initial novelty, really good narratives must draw them in like any other media.
The key to making a compelling VR movie is to focus on creating immersive worlds rather than storylines. Conventional storytelling simple doesn't suit a VR film. A 360-degree VR movie is actually a range of potential stories rather than a single story, because it can be viewed from many different angles. Filmmakers who ignore this fundamental aspect of VR film will annoy their audiences and fail to leverage the technology's unique features.
VR is still some way off from mass consumer adoption. But one of its biggest hurdles -- not enough interesting content -- is firmly a thing of the past, and Google's Pearl will not be the last Oscar-nomination VR Film.
In some countries, such as America, it is difficult for people to try out VR technology as consumers often have to often fork out US $1,000 or more to experience high-end VR. The trick is to make VR accessible, affordable and widely available. In China, there are over 100,000 internet cafes offering VR sessions for just a few dollars. Any VR kit that will sell well in the next couple of years is likely to be an inexpensive lower-end version that pairs with a smartphone, take for example Samsung, which has sold 5 million Gear VR headsets. Undoubtedly, Asia is leading the way in the mass adoption of VR technology.
For more insights, join Lionel Chok, Startup Founder/Creative Technologist, Immersively at the Virtual Reality Zone at BroadcastAsia2017. He will also be speaking about 'Embracing Virtual Reality for New Possibilities' on Day 2 of the Conference.
February 16, 2017
VR RESOURCES!
Here is a list of some resources that we hope our community finds helpful!
Credits: http://vrhackathon.com/resources.html
SOFTWARE
Augmented Reality Open API
JavaScript programming APIs for Augmented Reality Open API Specification. developer site
Catchoom
An image recognition technology provider with Image Recognition & Augmented Reality SDKs. visit website
Cardboard VR
The Cardboard SDKs for Android and Unity enable you to quickly start creating VR apps or adapt your existing application for mobile VR. developer site
CRYENGINE
CryEngine is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. developer website
EasyAR
EasyAR is an augmented reality platform that offers cross-platform support, no watermark, no limitation of recognition times, and is free for developers. visit website
GearVRF
The Gear VR Framework (GearVRf) Project is an open source rendering library for application development on VR-supported Android devices. developer site
High Fidelity
An open-source virtual reality platform. visit website
Lumberyard
Lumberyard is a free, cross-platform, 3D game engine released by Amazon. visit site
OSVR
OSVR - Open Source Virtual Reality platform. developer site
Stingray Engine
Stingray is a game engine released by Autodesk. visit website
Unity Engine
Unity is a game engine released by Unity3D. VR documentation
Unreal Engine
The Unreal Engine is a game engine released by Epic Games. VR documentation
Vuforia
Vuforia is a vision-based augmented reality software platform. visit website
Wikitude
Wikitude augmented reality SDK is a library for location based AR, image recognition and tracking for Android and iOS. visit website
SOFTWARE (Web)
A-Frame
Mozilla's WebVR framework. visit website
X3DOM
3D Web standards based framework that supports WebVR. visit website
HARDWARE
HTC Vive
HTC Vive head mounted display. visit website
Leap Motion
Hand gesture controller device. visit website
Meta 1
Meta augmented reality head mounted display. visit website
Oculus Rift
Oculus Rift head mounted display. visit website
OSVR
OSVR - Open Source Virtual Reality head mounted display. visit website
Sixense Stem
Motion sensors attached to the head and hands to provide a full-body skeletal tracking. visit website
*Stay tuned for more resources!
Virtual Reality and Monetization Strategies
While VR as a tech is and can be impressive, where and what are the opportunities for business development and monetisation?
#iMMERSiVELY looks forwards to connecting with you - to develop new channel directions for VR in 2017!
http://trends.cmf-fmc.ca/blog/virtual-reality-and-monetization-strategies1
Kick Starting 2017!
Barely a week into the new year and we are in the news!
What a great start to 2017!
Thank You 2016!
Thanks for all your support!
Not only did #iMMERSiVELY make great headways in VR space last year, I am also humbled and honoured to be:
1. Instructor in VR for General Assembly Singapore 2. Invited speaker about VR at at Echelon (Regional Tech Conference 2016) 3. Invited speaker to the creative department at Y & R Singapore about VR 4. Presenter by Red Dot Innovations at National Design Centre 5. Invited presenter by IBM Studios Singapore to introduce VR to their UX/UI team 6. Invited Lecturer to Ngee Ann Polytechnic Film and Media Studies on 360 VR Production 7. Invited presenter at Content Asia Production Summit 2016 on VR Storytelling 8. Invited presenter at Global Sources (Hong Kong) Trade conference 2016 alongside the Director of HTC Vive 9. Distinguished Committee member (VR Showcase) at the 2016 SIGGRAPH Asia in Macau 10. Invited presenter at SITEX 2016 Singapore on VR across Industries 11. Features Contributor in Virtual Reality for Forbes Asia
Looking forward to more in 2017!
My Virtual to Reality experience - here in Asia.
I recalled very vividly holding the Oculus DK (Development Kit) 1 in my hands for the very first time, back in late 2013. Although the notion of wearable (tech) was taking off, wearing such a chunky device over your head for you to look into, not only felt strange - it was as if its creators hadn’t learnt about the fate of Google Glass. But one must give credit where it due - especially from its very successful Kickstarter campaign where Oculus raised 4 times past its original intended target amount of US$1million. Reported by almost every news wire or tech resource, the man behind Oculus - Palmer Luckey - had suddenly become a poster boy for crowdfunding and the face associated with Virtual Reality.
All this however, has completely eluded me. Even with the release of their next headset - the Oculus DK 2, few that I know - had paid much attention, simply because most of us have seen tech hardware startups come and - well, go… Some - without a trace. That is - until March of 2014 when Facebook announced that they were acquiring Oculus — for US$2billion… I sat up instantly. Literally and figuratively. And clearly, I wasn’t the only one. Not only did more companies started to deploy Virtual Reality for and in their businesses, more and more of these applications weren’t games or about gaming - such as Google. Releasing their first no frills cardboard ’VR headsets’ for smartphones just 3 months after Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus in 2014, Google also released ‘Expeditions’ - the first deployment of VR for education in schools at scale. Consisting of various VR content from travels and museum tours, to occupations and sciences for educators as extended teaching tools for their classrooms of students - ‘Expeditions’ became amongst one of the first few notable VR applications since VR was launched into the limelight. Another - also from the US in New York, came from Marriott Hotels in 2015. Setting up VR experience booths just outside the Registry of Marriage in Manhattan, couples were able to experience various, different honeymoon travel locations in VR - complete with 4D effects such as wind, mist, and even a floating platform. Best of all, each of the above are available from YouTube to check out how VR was deployed.
But not just the US. In London, UK where I spent my time there pursuing my postgraduate studies specialising in VR, I had the valuable opportunity to attend several event, meet various companies and even tried out different platforms - all relating to VR. There are even more from Europe as well. But in London, the community surrounding VR was also thriving. With meetups, talks and presentations by companies and practitioners almost every week, the industry was growing at a rate almost comparably to the US. And so was the ecosystem of investors and startups. Although not many, the few that were invested and acquired helped spur VR adoption and development forwards - not just in the west, but in Asia as well. Which would come to no surprise that one of the more prominent VR experiences - in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - would be closely affiliated to gaming. EXA Park - a VR arcade where players don special gear and headsets to play in an entirely full bodied, physical VR environment. in Singapore, Ignite VR just opened a VR arcade with playable games from Steam via the HTC Vive - in a downtime shopping mall. Ecommerce through VR shopping has also begun, with Alibaba from China taking the lead in creating what would be Asia’s first retail experience from within a VR application via a headset. Developments in VR for China alone, could warrant another article, but with VR headsets - more and more businesses and clients are beginning to see how their marketing could be so much more immersive, when their prospective customers - or in the case for Singapore Tourism Board, visitors - use VR headsets to translate their intended messages. Produced by iMMERSiVELY based in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, we produced a short, 5 minute VR documentary for the Tourism Authority and curated this inside their Visitor Centre for walk in tourists to experience other recommended destinations. Another travel and tourism related campaign in VR, set inside a mall - was also created by Fiji Airways earlier this year in Singapore, for shoppers to experience Fiji through various leisure activities such as scuba diving to sky diving. Each VR experience even ends with a live music performance. Without a doubt, the 2 industries who are the biggest adopters of VR for marketing to date - are travel/tourism, and property/real estate. Earlier this year, Property Guru Singapore launched its first VR showroom in a mobile truck - parked in the business district. Passer-bys, mainly from offices nearby, would be able to view various properties from this setup; instead of traditionally having to visit single showroom at a time.
Evidently, innovations in and around VR experiences are proving to be more and more exciting - with increasing adoptions from corporations, and experimentations from those in academia. At the recent SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 event in Macau, a VR showcase was hosted for the first time - for international participants. From Tohoku University, Japan that showcased their ‘Block Shaped Content Manipulation in VR’, to even one entry from Oculus Story Studio - many were simply groundbreaking in their own right. And winding up a year of many firsts in VR, the annual Asian Television Forum (ATF) held in Singapore curated its inaugural VR showcase as well; focusing on VR content from participating companies. Besides VR documentaries being distributed for the first time, independent content creator Warrior 9 has started to produce the region’s first Sci-Fi, animated VR series - The PhoenIX. We can be sure that VR content development and production, especially those serialised for broadcasters, will definitely be something we can look forwards to - come 2017. But not just VR experiences and content. Applications in and using VR are also increasingly being developed in fields of education, training and simulation, such as the new VR facility at the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore - where built professionals are now able to simulate the construction process in a 3D virtual environment before buildings are physically built on site, as opposed to viewing conventional drawings and models on paper and screen. With so much developments happening in Asia alone, to say 2016 was an exciting year for VR - could actually be, an understatement. While we are not quite into 2017 yet, VR in the new year already looks to be really promising - with possibly the world’s biggest online VR hackathon “Global WebVR Hackathon” - taking place from now till the end of January. Here’s to seeing, more virtual (ideas) becoming reality.
Input Technologies in VR
As of Dec’16! Let’s track this in 2017!
Credit: virtual-reality-in-tourism.com
A new content distribution paradigm for VR and 360 video
From Techcrunch by Devon Dolan
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/14/the-content-distribution-industrial-complex-for-vr/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000595
Content distribution has been industrialized, scaling to a state of overabundance, tipping the balance of power into the hand holding the smartphone.
With waning attention spans and lack of exercise comes the droning stalemate of digital encumbrance and content disposability. A paradox of choice.
Media companies fight for our time. The social winners create open networks on top of the individual’s stream of shared written word, photo, and video; the legacy winners create closed channels from their slate of programed written word, photo, and video. In this era, we lose by segregating media into the distinct buckets of new/user-generated and traditional/studio-produced.
Why? It is all just media.
The de facto winner is the one that continually captures and owns the consumer’s time. Big media. Big brother. We are living in the oxymoron of an individualized society — the capitalization of our time.
Virtual reality and the 360 video industry are faced with the chicken and egg problem of content and distribution. The problem is that we haven’t cracked the egg, nor has the chicken hatched. To get to that point, we must look through the consumer’s lens.
Virtual reality and 360 video share an inherent flaw — the lack of consumption infrastructure. This has a direct correlation to viewership in that target users are presented too many choices and are far too limited on time. The chicken is choice; the egg is time.
Problem == Δ Consumer Behavior == Solution
The interim answer to accelerating new user adoption in VR/360 is to eventize content through a centralized curated delivery module (“CCDM”). A CCDM is a premiere exhibition application that would partner with best in class content providers to enable distribution monetization. This is done in person at festivals, but it isn’t systematized to generate repeat usage at home. The current ideology of VR/360 is asymmetric.
+Content != +Users
We must take a step back and look at a cable network (yes, seriously) to take two forward. The CCDM would function as a multi-party joint venture fueled by a consortium of specialty VR/360 studios, many of whom act as their own distributors, in which their content would be hosted in the CCDM’s standalone application across all the hardware (HMD) and mobile app stores.
Otherwise, the first mover studios will become marginalized and bleed market share to the major technology companies (e.g. Facebook, Google, Samsung, Sony) and incoming entertainment companies (e.g. Amazon, Netflix, HBO, Hulu). It’s going to be an uphill battle regardless as the bulge bracket tech companies already control the device by which we consume VR/360 entertainment. They currently don’t own the content supply chain, but they’re developing their own channels and are primed to steamroll the competition. Given more time, they will capitalize on fragmentation.
To acquire customers, convert them to DAUs then to MAUs, the boutique studios must formulate a distribution consolidation pact to effect the active engagement and retention of early adopters, and to impress upon them the incentivization of viewership through a monetized offering of multiple channels in a network. This will create organized fashion, ease of function, a true market. Sure, it’s an empirical prognostication, but it is what it is.
As it stands, the distributor-exhibitor relationship in VR/360 has gone unmanaged and overlooked. By virtue of creating this hypothetical CCDM monopoly, an aggregated destination for the crème of the crème, the producers would benefit through an added install base leading to content monetization.
This occurs when customers are convinced (through blitzkrieg marketing campaigns) that there is a valid reason to transact, whereby the CCDM would enact pay walls at certain windowing sequences of the VR/360 lifecycle. For the content to be eventized, cinematic experiences need to be wrapped in skinny bundles (ones that share a common thesis or owner) and premiered on mobile in pre-selected release dates/times for an exclusive CableVOD rental rate (the premiere window) with an enforceable viewing constraint.
Another add-on option would be limiting the total amount of downloads to increase demand and/or waiving the viewing constraint to launch a more focused drive in traffic. (The skinny bundle is necessary because my belief is that consumers won’t bring themselves to pay upwards of $15, the cost of a movie ticket, for less than an hour’s worth of VR/360 content. This historical precedent has been ingrained into the consumer’s belief system.)
The VR/360 studios could then efficiently develop and market themselves as a brand through their bundles. As the week’s progress, the economics of a sliding scale would take into effect, granting more revenue to the CCDM. This would mirror the distributor-exhibitor relationship in theatrical film splits. In an alternate license model, the CCDM could take a fixed percentage like we see in the App Store. This is digitized day-and-date distribution.
As the CCDM’s skinny bundle exclusive window expires after say 30–60 days, the CCDM would manage a library of content and offer the experiences in InternetVOD (download-to-own or download-to-rent) formats. Eventually that window would expire and the content would be released for SubscriptionVOD, though Netflix and Amazon likely have ulterior strategies with their VR/360 strategy.
On a different delivery platform, the content capsules could become programmed against advertisements when the content market becomes more robust. As the industry evolves, the skinny bundles, or channels, would inevitably fragment into their own free channels offerings — as they are now in the current VR/360 ecosystem.
Once the CCDM amasses a user base, the one stop shop scenario proves beneficial in attracting and hosting live streams of performances and events. This would result in a flat pay-per-view rate like we see for boxing matches.
Finally, the underlying software could be licensed to festival producers who are orchestrating in person event-based simulcasts. This gets even more interesting if the CCDM could utilize a geographic filter to restrict the simulcasts to certain regions and/or locales, but the technology doesn’t exist yet.
Content creators are upending this nascent business by going directly to the consumer without strategy — spraying and praying — essentially establishing a growing oligopoly without margin. The majority of VR/360 creators are acting as studios with their own outlets being hosted on the app and HMD stores. The notion of going wide (for free!) on as many platforms as possible will be the industry’s own downfall. When the powers that be are combined, the value would be realized.
Yes, this idea is counter-intuitive to the “how we want it, when we want it” era of consumer media demand, but a distribution umbrella is necessary to function as the engine to power further content creation through earned users. As it stands, the fact that a true market with recognizable ARPU hasn’t been created is severely concerning. Consumption patterns need to be established and monetized for cinematic VR/360 content to continue flowing.
“Hello, Capitalism!”
The overwhelming accessibility to VR/360 content is a problem because the consumer is given an à la carte menu that encompasses breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks and desserts. It’s not that diners don’t want VR/360 content, it’s that they don’t know about the day’s special and where to find it. The chefs are cooking and serving in the restaurant, but there isn’t a waiter present to take orders and manage the delivery process. We need an intermediary to ask, “Would you like the chicken or the egg?”
14 Oct’16
Going Places for VR!
Getting an all expense paid invite to present #VR #VirtualReality in #HongKong: Out of this world!
Realising how big this event is and seeing your name all over the place: Priceless!
Absolutely honoured and thrilled to be invited to Hong Kong present #360, #VR #VirtualReality #iMMERSiVELY for Work-Life-Play, alongside industry luminaries - #HTCVive #DigitalMagic #CherryPicks #BeFastTV and more!
See more here: www.facebook.com/immersively
VR @ Content Asia 2016!
A truly amazing day today - as I get invited to share all about #VR #VirtualReality Storytelling at #ContentAsia Production Day!
Moving forwards - please check out more updates at:
https://www.facebook.com/immersively/
Virtual reality gets a toehold in Singapore corporates!
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/virtual-reality-gets-a/2359196.html?cid=fbsg
SINGAPORE: Once associated with theme parks and high-end computer games, virtual reality (VR) is making inroads in other business areas, with several companies using the technology for training or as a marketing tool.
For instance, you can now do a "virtual" walkthrough of the Australian city of Cairns and its surroundings, before deciding whether to spend time and money on an actual physical journey.
Travel agency Flight Centre recently introduced the virtual reality walkthroughs at its store at Cecil Street. It plans to make the system available at its other outlets and use the technology in other areas as well.
“It’s a nice way for customers to try before they buy, to get some inspiration," said Flight Centre Travel Group's managing director for Singapore Suyin Lee. "We can do a lot with it in terms of virtual tours for different and new experiences that perhaps we haven’t yet introduced in the market; we can use it to test those experiences. We can also use it for virtual tours of hotels and properties, and different types of sightseeing tours.”
Virtual reality involves the use of video and sound to create a 3-D environment that the person is part of. The technology has been around for many years, but has become easier to apply in daily operations, thanks to the introduction of VR headsets from companies such as Samsung, Google and Facebook subsidiary Occulus Rift over the past year. In Singapore, VR headsets can be purchased for less than S$300 a pair.
Other companies that have started using VR include the Shangri-La Group, which has produced immersive 360-degree videos for more than a quarter of its 94 hotels and resorts around the world. Shangri-La said it will use its VR headsets as promotional and educational tools at tradeshows, industry events and sales meetings. There is also great potential for VR use outside travel.
“We have requests to document weddings in 360 degrees," said TaKanto Virtual Reality's managing director Ariel Talbi. "We also see the 360 concept catching a lot of momentum in the real estate industry. For example you can see properties in 360 degrees before actually going onsite and seeing them.
"We are definitely having discussions with some of the biggest brands around how 360-degree technology can be utilised for the real estate industry, for entertainment, for conventions and many more.”
German car company Audi meanwhile is rolling out a system that allows customers to customise their cars with the help of a VR headset and browse Audi vehicles from a first-person perspective.
In October, Audi organised an event that lets people "travel" 50 years back in time using VR to immerses them in a 360-degree experience of Singapore’s historic districts in 1965.
Whether for travel and weddings or to preview cars and properties, VR looks set to play a greater role in decision-making for consumers in the coming years. However, there are some companies that think it is still too early to introduce VR in its marketing tools. The head of a hospitality real estate investment trust who declined to be named said the gains from using VR as a market tool appear incremental but the additional costs are substantial.
- CNA/hs
Invited - Part 2
‘Nuff Said!
A great early Christmas present indeed!
Invited Speaker - Part 1
I was so excited (and busy) that I forgot to post this! ‘Nuff Said!
To present: Business Applications in 360 and VR!
VR @ GA (Singapore)!
I can’t believe it myself - but - while in London (2015), I wanted to find a chance to be teaching with GA... A year later - I did it!
Starting with the workshop above - I’m proud and happy to say: I just conducted ‘Intro to VR’ - on Wed 8 Jun’16!
Looking forwards to formalise 360 and VR in and for Education in the coming few weeks!
1st June: Launched today
Never had I thought it would be this hard coming back to Singapore. After 15 odd months in London and completing my postgrad (in Technology - with Distinction, no less), I was expecting related jobs in tech to be (somewhat) easier to apply for. Though I then did find a role in a local startup, it had proved to be short-lived. Applications to other jobs - yet again, proved challenging with the current economic climate.But God is good. Today, I take the daring first steps in launching my own Startup specialising in 360 and Virtual Reality (www.immersively.co)With its potential application across almost all industries, this emerging media tech will become integral in our lives, sooner than we will imagine.It might take 1 to 2 months for revenue to actually come in, but I ask not for your sympathy, but rather - referrals and recommendations - for me to introduce this amazing new technology to you. For your business, your projects, and more.It will busier and not any easier, but at least now, I seem to have the best of both worlds - with media and tech. :)
Your first look at the official YouTube VR app
Google is going all in on virtual reality, and we saw the early stages of its plan for VR domination take shape this week at the annual Google I/O developer conference. The company covered plenty of bases during its big keynote event on Wednesday — check out the 8 most important announcements from Google I/O 2016 — but VR was absolutely one of the biggest. In fact, the entire event was streamed live in 360-degree video so that anyone with a VR headset anywhere in the world could follow along as if they were sitting right there in the audience.
The company’s mission is clear: Google wants to own VR. Android is clearly the proper tool for the job, and now another piece of the puzzle is falling into place. YouTube, the second most popular website in the world (behind Google.com), has an official VR experience in the works and we just got our first look at it.
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“For more than a year, we’ve been adding support for new video and audio formats on YouTube like 360-degree video, VR video and Spatial Audio,” YouTube’s VR project manager Kurt Wilms wrote in a post on the company’s official blog. “These were the first steps on our way toward a truly immersive video experience, and now we’re taking another one with the YouTube VR app for Daydream, Google’s platform for high-quality mobile virtual reality, announced today at Google I/O.”
And with that comes our first look at the official YouTube VR app:
It might not seem like much in 2D but if virtual reality takes off the way many are predicting, this is our first look at an interface that millions upon millions of people will spend countless hours of their lives immersed in. The user interface isn’t yet finalized, but this early look shows that it provides quick and easy access to all of YouTube’s core features.
“We’re creating the YouTube VR app to provide an easier, more immersive way to find and experience virtual reality content on YouTube,” Wilms wrote. “It also comes with all the YouTube features you already love, like voice search, discovery, and playlists, all personalized for you, so you can experience the world’s largest collection of VR videos in a whole new way.”
YouTube is already home to a treasure trove of 360-degree content that users enjoy in a VR setting, so the natural next step is to create a YouTube experience that serves as a gateway to all that content.
Credits: http://bgr.com/2016/05/20/youtube-vr-app-official-details/