Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) @ConnecTechAsia Show News - Day 3 | Page 29

@ConnecTechAsia2018
www.apb-news.com
28 June 2018
THURSDAY 29
VR from virtual market to market reality
BY ROB KOENEN
Only two years ago, the excitement
about virtual reality (VR) knew no
limits. Analysts competed in making
the boldest predictions, and not
investing was considered reckless.
The mood has changed, and argu-
ably for the good. Expectations are
now more realistic, but the outlook
is still healthy.
Gartner, a research and advisory
company, has VR moving out of
the trough of disillusionment in its
Hype Cycle research methodolo-
gy. Speaking at VRX Europe 2018,
Stephanie Llamas of Superdata
explained how VR adoption nicely
tracks with other historical adoption
curves, and predicted consumer
revenue in 2021 of almost US$18
billion, with an inflection point in
the coming year. At the VR Industry
Forum Master Class held during CES
2018, Alexis Macklin of Greenlight
Insights, predicted a total market size
of close to $75 billion in 2021.
There are other signs, too.
Specialisation has started to happen
in the VR ecosystem. More cameras
and camera rigs with higher resolu-
tions are allowing capture from 4K/
Ultra HD (UHD) to 6K and 8K, even
going up to 16K. Dedicated compa-
nies have appeared with a laser focus
on various elements in the VR distri-
bution chain, such as video stitching
from SGO’s Misitka VR, support for
live VR from Imeve, distribution
platforms like Jaunt’s XR platform or
high-quality streaming Tiledmedia.
More well-known brands have
announced interesting content, such
as Samsung’s TV Series for just VR, and
dedicated chipsets, like Qualcomm’s
XR1. Now add the recent release of
attractive and affordable VR devices
to the mix: the Oculu s Go and the
Vive Focus, and the many announce-
ments of VR headsets with higher
resolution in the making. These
comfortable devices are completely
wireless, support inside-out tracking
so there is no need to set up tracking
equipment, are lightweight, and do
away with the need to slide mobile
phones in and out.
And, indeed, we need a high-
quality experience for VR to become
truly successful. Higher quality video
with lower bandwidth requirements,
and equally important, interoperabil-
ity in content, services and devices.
High quality and interoperability
are both crucially important for the
entire ecosystem, to make VR-360 a
high-quality, immersive, cross-plat-
form experience.
Consumers do not want to
purchase four different devices —
everything needs to play on the VR
device of their preference. Content
producers and service providers want
to broaden their reach, and to reduce
the cost caused by format prolifera-
tion. Device makers want to ensure
a wealthy, premium quality content
pipeline enticing customers to buy
their devices. And finally, advertisers
want to drive the creation of a broad,
unique and innovative sales channel.
The VR Industry Forum is a world-
wide, cross-platform group with both
market leaders and startups who
seek to grow this industry together.
Collectively, the group recognised
that high quality and interopera-
bility are both necessary conditions
for incubating a healthy market
ecosystem.
Established at CES in January last
year, the forum’s goal is to further the
widespread availability of high-qual-
ity audio-visual VR experiences, for
the benefit of consumers. In January
this year, after a year of work, VRIF
published a set of Guidelines that
provide recommendations for VR
production, including human factors,
interoperable VR distribution, and
VR security. The Guidelines rely on
standards and technologies that are
implemented in most modern devic-
es and chipsets. The focus of VRIF is
now on expanding the Guidelines
with recommendations for live VR
services, and on providing tangible
tools for interoperability testing.
Rob Koenen is president of VRIF Industry
Forum, and co-founder of Tiledmedia and
principal consultant at TNO ICT.
Sennheiser AMBEO VR MIC -
Capturing 3D Audio
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• Avid Technology, renowned for its all-digital solutions with the seamless compatibility AMBEO VR Mic
on its digital audio workstations, Avid Pro Tools HD
• Sound Devices, a specialist in portable equipment for sound and video recording, in the form of an
AMBEO VR Microphone compatibility with the Sound Devices MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T audio recorders
• Zoom, a renowned recording device manufacturer for compatibility of the AMBEO VR Mic with the
Zoom’s F8 and F4 MultiTrack Field Recorders