Essential Install Home Cinema Insight June 2017 | Page 19

Home Cinema Insight | Interview: Darcy Antonellis
IMAX is just one
of the many
cinema chains
contemplating VR
Could Snapchat
be the next major
TV player?
“Virtual reality really excites me,” she notes. “The
business models for VR are still evolving but the reason
I think VR is so different to 3D ever was, is the fact that
it affects multiple generations.” Darcy continues by
describing a popular advertising campaign in the US from
Samsung, where different generations were being given
the Gear VR and reacting to their experiences with it. She
notes that this was a big sign for her that VR was going to
be in the mainstream. “Whether it’s the Fox experience of
The Martian, it’s really compelling and interesting. I think
the challenge is what does that become? It’s certainly
an art form, so how do you translate that art form into a
commercial business that is sustainable and isn’t novel,”
she concludes.
In the world of VR, Vubiquity is definitely getting
involved. “As an aggregator and distribution company,
very much like gaming – we support SVOD, we offer a
SVOD gaming service. For VR, right now we’re supporting
all the major formats – it’s hard to keep track of. We’ll
continue to do that, I don’t see us getting into VR
production – that’s a whole different beast.”
There are issues some users have with VR, however.
One such issue surrounds the social aspect, with users
tending to experience VR alone, in contrast to mainstream
successes such as the Nintendo Wii. Is there a way for the
technology to get around that problem? Darcy thinks so.
“I’m on the board of Cinemark and theatres are doing
a lot of experimentation around VR. There is a way to
incorporate it into a venue setting, it could be very niche
and very targeted, but to bring people together, is it any
different from them having to wear glasses and things like
that for 3D. I don’t know,” she notes.
“I think there’s been some tests with augmented reality
experiences, in-theatre as well. The trials that have been
done include building out a space and adapting it to
whatever the theme of the produced AR is. It’s almost like
a game. You have people go in one end and they have to
get out the other. I can see where they’ll pay for it.”
It’s not just VR that excites Darcy, as she’s also a strong
believer in HDR. “We license, or have the ability to license,
about 500 4K titles, so we have a library that we can
sell into the market. My personal view is that HDR is the
experience,” she says.
Vubiquity already supports more than just standard
HDR, but also supports Hybrid Log Gamma a