Has cinematic VR come of age? Certainly not – it’s still a baby. The ubiquitous 6-GoPro rig is a great technology demonstrator, but hardly a well-sorted mature product. Whether it be social media for the masses or professional content production, the tools are still immature and difficult to use – but that will change. “Wouldn’t it be great if I could get a high quality stitched real-time output from a 360-degree camera?” Yes it would, and my company has technology that will do just that – we will soon be seeing products where you push the button and…. it just works. The technical problems are really just technical opportunities. It’ll take time, but we’ll get there.

1. 1
VR in the Formative Years
Clifford Dive
VP Business Development, Argon Design
12 September 2016
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sndrv/2941342977/

2. 2
First Known Use of
“VIRTUAL REALITY”
1987
Source: Merriam Webster

3. 3
Full Definition of VIRTUAL REALITY
: an artificial environment which is experienced
through sensory stimuli (as sights and sounds)
provided by a computer and in which one's
actions partially determine what happens in the
environment;
also : the technology used to create or access a
virtual reality
Source: Merriam Webster

4. 4
This presentation focuses on cinematic VR
…..otherwise known as 360-degree video or immersive video

5. 5
A brief history
Painting by Robert Barker, 1787, Edinburgh

6. 6
A brief history
Photo by George N. Barnard from the top of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, 1864

7. 7
View-Master - 1939

8. 8
The 1990s – SEGA and Nintendo

9. 9
….and fast forward
The millennium – 3D TV

10. 10
What happened to 3D TV?
Was it
• too expensive
• too much hassle
• bad luck – the global recession
• not compatible with the lifestyle
• just not needed

11. 11

12. 12

13. 13

14. 14
Professional content
Content creation
Distribution
Consumption
Production
Camera
systems
Post production Sustainable
revenue model
Reward:
$$$$$$$$$$$

15. 15
User-generated content
Content creation
Sharing
Consumption
Camera
systems
Stitching
Early adopter

16. 16
Big questions
• What’s it for
– Marketing and brand building (short-form content)
– Artistic story-telling innovation
– Concerts
– News and sport
– Consumer products
• How will we consume
– Flat screen or HMD. The answer to this could be very important both for
cameras and the content itself.

17. 17
Technical opportunities
Driven by games more than cinematic VR, HMDs will get bigger and better
specifications, with higher frame rates, more resolution, wider field of view, lower
latency, but….
• Motion parallax – if a move my head laterally in the real world objects in the
foreground move relative to those in the background. Not so with today’s
cinematic VR
• Focus accommodation and vergence – in the real world the eyes focus and
align dependent on the distance of the object in view
• Translation – what happens if I change position?
All of these require knowledge of the 3D geometry of the imagery, rather than a
simple spherical projection – we get closer to photogrammetry
• Google Jump is going some way along that track already

18. 18
Wrap up
• With current technology immersive 360-degree content can be spectacular, and
currently the novelty value can make it a very effective marketing tool
– but creating content is not easy, especially if you want to live stream
• There are consumer products available right now but…..
– cameras are expensive, and quality is not brilliant
– the workflow is not straightforward
• I’m really not convinced about the concept of HMDs for every day use by a
mass audience
– and engagement of a critical mass in audience numbers is required for VR
to move fro niche to mainstream
It’s going to take a while yet……

19. 19
Contact
Argon360 real-time video stitching technology:
Come and see us at stand 8.G14 in IBC Future Zone
More info:
www.argondesign.com/products/argon360
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW6W-gdeFic
Contact:
cliff.dive@argondesign.com
argon360@argondesign.com