The next frontier of entertainment lies in interactive and immersive experiences, where traditional TV and device screens give way to rich, 3D environments that surround the viewer. And while video compression technology might not grab the headlines, it’s the backbone of 3D video content creation and delivery, enabling the seamless, high-quality experiences that extended reality (XR) and metaverse applications demand. Interestingly, the codec, Multiview HEVC (MV-HEVC), which is designed to enable 3D video experiences, is currently enjoying a surge in market adoption. This increase is largely driven by Apple’s launch of the Apple Vision Pro headset, which uses the MV-HEVC codec. Since then, many more OEMs are adding in support for the codec to their devices. What impact will this have on the industry, and might it help facilitate widespread adoption of extended reality and acceleration of the metaverse? For clarity, extended reality and XR are used throughout as a catch-all term for virtual, augmented and mixed reality.
24 Hour Party People
Jeff Bezos once compared Amazon’s approach to customer experience to hosting a party 24/7. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job, every day, to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” Bezos’ comments came way back in 2004. But they could just as easily be describing the challenges facing broadcast media today as brands look for growth in the OTT market.
Social Experiences – Covid and Beyond
Most of us are social creatures and even when apart, we strive to be together. The bond that we create from shared activity, such as watching movies together, runs deeper than one might think. Research published in a scientific journal which involved chimpanzees watching a video in pairs, showed how they became more sociable with each other after the viewing session ended. This indicates that the bond we form from activities such as watching video content together has deep evolutionary roots.
Pixotope: BaM Shortlist – Produce
Pixotope is at the forefront of democratizing virtual production and empowering content creators with accessible solutions for boundary-pushing immersive storytelling. Our XR Edition, based on our award-winning virtual production graphics software, was developed in response to the growing use of LED volumes in virtual production and the resulting need for hardware optimization as well as simplified, efficient, and resilient workflows. XR Edition removes the need for bespoke set ups and proprietary hardware to power extended reality (XR) workflows and environments. The result is an off-the-shelf software solution featuring a range of purpose-built tools that simplify setup and operation.
Creating XR content
XR is one of the trendiest and most recent flavours of Virtual Reality, and many understand it as the usage of virtual backgrounds, displayed on large LED video walls, for movies, drama, or live events. However, the concept of XR (Extended Reality) goes far beyond these applications, which are often spectacular, but also do not take advantage of the many possibilities this technology can provide.
Diving in to fill the vacuum in esports audio
Although still in its relative infancy, esports has gone from a niche sector to a global billion-dollar industry that is drawing huge investment and has a rapidly surging fan base around the world.
How VR Experience Platform, Thrive360, Is Using Data to Change the Landscape of Mental Health
Streaming platform for mental and emotional healthcare, Thrive360, explains how science-driven, medically-proven immersive VR and data enhances well-being and improves diagnostic efficacy. DevOps team, StratusGrid, provides insight into the technical approach. Thrive360 details statistical success and discusses with IABM member, Vimond, why managing metadata within an OTT CMS enables repeatable outcomes and informs evolving content strategy.
Brompton Technology: Making LED play nicely for in-camera visual effects
In-camera visual effects using LED screens have moved very rapidly from a pioneering specialty to a mainstream technique being widely used across film and television production.
A major breakthrough in augmented reality for live sports broadcasting
UK-based Interregional Sports Group (ISG) and Supponor have combined with Lega Serie A to scope, build and deploy the most ambitious and advanced integrated virtual media technology project ever attempted in live sports broadcasting.
Media Tech Intelligence Briefing: CES 2022
We think that CES 2022 has highlighted important trends related to the future of technology and trade shows, which is why we have analyzed these topics in the first IABM Media Tech Intelligence Briefing of 2022.