An immersive news broadcast, accessed through an Oculus Rift headset, was recently produced by the UK's BBC. The broadcaster used a 360° camera set up to film its newsroom, live editing gallery and presenter Fiona Bruce. Viewers could then use Oculus Rift headsets to view the broadcast. A short video shows some of the responses from participants.
Cyrus Saihan, head of business development at BBC Future Media, noted that digital media is changing rapidly.
“When the BBC starting making the world’s first regular public television broadcasts in 1936, there were only about 20,000 TV sets capable of receiving the programming,†said Saihan. “Today, more than 20,000 smartphones will be sold around the world in the next 10 minutes.â€
The BBC is actively looking at delivering “immersive experiences†with video and audio. Its R&D department have already been working on delivering a surround sound effect through headphones with virtual reality broadcasting its next step.
It is offering the broadcast as a free download to anyone that has an Oculus Rift headset.