virtual reality cardboard •

Youtube Is About To Go 360° On Live Video Streaming

February 3, 2016 By Chen Lai Leave a Comment

Capture from a 360° video of Green Island, Taiwan.

The tech nerds will definitely want to hear about this – Youtube is about to go 360° on live video streaming.

The big company is reportedly planning to add support for 360-degree live-streamed video. Sources say that YouTube has been meeting with camera manufacturers with the intention of developing a way to live stream 360-degree videos. YouTube itself refused to comment on the report, and no timeline has reportedly been set for launch, but the company could be helping to set up specifications with camera manufacturers that would let people stream live 360-degree videos from 360-degree cameras as they currently do from regular cameras.

The Youtube staff has been interested in this brand-new idea since last March, a few months before Google introduced 360-degree support for Cardboard, and before Facebook introduced 360-degree videos.

Earlier this week Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that ‘it’s still incredibly early innings for virtual reality as a platform’ and that Google Cardboard – its low-cost VR headset – was “just the first step’. In January, Google was reported to have set up a dedicated Virtual Reality (VR) division and had appointed company executive Clay Bavor to run the unit.

In November 2015, Youtube also added Virtual Reality video support to the serivce’s Android app, inviting viewers to experience immersive, 360-degree content. Back then, YouTube also said that the new VR features ‘enable you to see and be seen in a whole new way’, with Android users able to watch VR content using their phone and a Google Cardboard headset or device holder.

The first time that YouTube added 360-degree video support to Google Cardboard was in May 2015. Two months earlier, the company announced that it had started to support 360-degree video uploads, allowing viewers to control the angle and point-of-view of supported video clips.

The biggest challenge faced by YouTube is stitching the video together while it’s streaming live, something the platform is reportedly creating software for as a way to support a variety of different cameras. A solution would be to develop stitching software that could accommodate feeds from a variety of cameras. This would require significant effort on Youtube’s part.

However, another possibility would be having some 360-degree cameras that are capable of stitching video themselves. Right now, Youtube disposes of a number of such cameras and others are headed to market later this year. There is a strong possibility that YouTube’s live 360 initiative could be limited to these devices alone, at least in the beginning.

Streaming live 360-degree video isn’t necessarily new; NextVR made headlines last October when it live streamed the opening game of the NBA season, something it hopes to do more of throughout the year.

All this sounds like good news for the biggest video platform in the world, who is expected to have a major breakout year, following the ‘fresh face’ it will adopt starting soon.

Image Source: virtualon.co.uk

You Can Now Take a Virtual Tour of Buckingham Palace

January 21, 2016 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

The virtual tour has its own guide, so the children will learn about the history and secrets of the palace.

Schools are taking a new approach on learning by taking the children into long walks through the jungle, a swim through the Great Reef Barrier all from the comfortable environment of the classroom. And it seems you can now take a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace, too, thanks to David Attenborough.

The Pioneer Expedition Program that helps bring the world to the children, all in the name of education, was launched last September and was initiated by David Attenborough, sir, and the company Alchemy VR. Ever since September, a total of 500,000 children has experienced the feeling of swimming with the dolphins without even getting a strand of their hair wet.

After trying it out, they usually made requests on what they would like to see next, what they would enjoy visiting. And even though the requests were scattered with out of this world places, because we are dealing with children, after all, a surprising majority asked if they could take a virtual visit to Buckingham Palace.

To answer the requests of the students, Google has worked with the Royal Trust Collection to create an Expedition of the palace. The virtual visit is accompanied by an audio guide that relates historical facts, explains the items displayed and even tells them fun facts about the estate and the treasures it harbors. It’s exactly the experience you would have if you were there, with a guide at your group’s side.

Sir Attenborough says he has initiated this program to revolutionize learning and to help develop the young minds of children. Even though they keep learning all the subjects that are thought to them in school, the children will be able, thanks to the Pioneer Expeditions Program, to swim in the Great Reef Barrier alongside clownfish, anemones, sharks, manatees and jellyfish.

The Virtual Reality experience might entice their curiosity as to research a certain subject further. New marine biologists can be born due to a classroom visit at the Great Reef Barrier, or a new historian that fell in love with Buckingham Palace. All that sir Attenborough wanted was to bring the possibility of traveling the world inside the classrooms.

For those of you who are past the school days, but still wish to experience the visit, you can now take a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace via a 360 video on YouTube. All you need is a smartphone and a Google Cardboard and you could experience the visit in Virtual Reality.

You can now take a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace by viewing the clip below.

Image source: www.flickr.com

Google Rolls Out Update for Cardboard VR Headsets

December 15, 2014 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Google strives hard to introduce innovative things in the Google cardboard. The biggest tech developer launched a reality glasses in Google‘s I/O conference in June.

It is one of the most incredible multipurpose apps available in the entire market. It permits users to experience virtual reality with the Google Earth and YouTube.

The headset marked a new history in the sales of the company. It gained at once attention of a large number of people. Around 500,000 units were shipped with the help of numerous vendors. Shortly after the great success of the project Google intends to double down the headset.

It appears as if Google wants to get hold of the entire share market through Google cardboard. The tech firm has planned to make an addition of numerous app and games for the platform. The company informed that it will complete the new goal with the help of novel Cardboard SDK for Unity and Android.

Additionally, Google also plans to offer more personalization updates in the cardboard. This personalization will allow users to customize the virtual reality headsets as per their requirements.

Recently, Google announced that the tech company will surely add few viewer calibration tools to the Cardboard SDK till the beginning of 2015. The calibration tool would define the focal length and the base of viewer.

The best thing is that the Google is available at a low price of $20 – $50.

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