M+E Connections

Is virtual reality going to be the next big thing in how we watch live sports? The immersive technology gets its chance to play on the big stage next month when NBC will offer VR programming at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

Hundreds of millions of people are expected to watch the summer Olympics, but only users of Samsung phones with a paid TV subscription will have the chance to watch the events in virtual reality for the first time, NBC Sports announced Thursday.

The 85 hours of VR programming will include the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, men’s basketball, gymnastics, track and field, beach volleyball, diving, boxing and fencing, along with highlight packages of those sports. All VR programming will be presented on delay, starting Aug. 6, the day after the Opening Ceremony, through Aug. 22, the day after the Games conclude.

Variety points out that, “NBC’s jumping on the VR bandwagon with a high-profile event like the Olympics could give a boost to the nascent virtual-reality sector.”

“NBC is promising the VR content will give Olympic fans a you-are-there feeling, ranging from such venues as Maracana Stadium for the Opening Ceremony to Copacabana Beach for an immersive beach volleyball experience. The VR lineup will feature on sport or event per day for the duration of the games.”

* The week kicked off with the aftermath of the Cannes Lions Festival, where The New York Times VR film won the Lions Entertainment Grand Prix. “The Displaced,” shot by Vrse.Works, earned the top prize, to go along with the Grand Prix in Mobile that the NYT VR app itself won earlier this week.

* A new, rejiggered ‘Ghostbusters’ film is about to open, and Engadget takes a closer look at the ‘Ghostbusters: Dimension’ VR experience, noting that the game “It brings virtual reality immersion to a whole new level.”

* VR continues to permeate the movie business as a serious part of the creative process. Deadline reported that Jake Zim has been named SVP of virtual reality by Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman, tasked with “building a slate of narrative VR content” for the film group. He will work closely with Kuni Suzuki, EVP for Strategic Corporate Initiatives at Sony Entertainment and a team of professionals from across Sony Pictures who are dedicated to the production and distribution of virtual reality (VR).

Sony’s move into VR comes after Google and IMAX Corp. announced plans to develop a cinema-grade VR camera and as others in this space are marching forward in preparation of virtual reality projects in the next wave of consumer entertainment.

* Could virtual reality be film’s next ‘New Wave’? Live Science says that with VR technology, “movie writers and directors have more tools at their disposal than ever before to create immersive experiences.”

* Gamasutra looked into whether or not exclusivity deals good for the VR game industry, while GamesIndustry.biz posted the story, “From a publishing point of view, VR is just too risky,” writing that, “Small and medium publishers may be two or more years away from supporting dedicated VR games, shifting yet more emphasis onto platform-holders like Valve and Oculus to continue funding content development.”

* Nintendo might be researching VR, according to Kotaku.

* Advanced Television’s “VR: Virtually a Reality?” has a nice breakdown of the emergence of the technology.

Virtual Reality is becoming part of the furniture of all media business conversations in the way that 4K did three or four years ago and 3D did seven or eight years ago. Which one will VR go on to resemble – the one that is becoming a standard for TV and marks the beginning of a linear march to extreme UHD, or the one that was a fad and faded away because it was a brilliant concept weighed down by too many contradictions and compromises? You could say the omens are not good – VR and 3D share the necessity to wear something on your face. They also share the chicken-and-egg challenge of little but very expensive content.

* Wimbledon has begun, and there’s an interesting story from Museums Association about a virtual reality experience launched by the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum puts visitors at the heart of the matches that made history. “Wearing VR headsets, visitors go on an immersive journey through the history of the Championships at Wimbledon. Part of the experience involves shrinking down to the size of an ant to find out more about the science behind the grass on the courts.”

* FastCompany takes writes that “Virtual reality, eSports, and freemium are about to transform the world of video games yet again” in their feature Welcome To The Future Of Gaming.

* Google is working to add fully immersive browsing capability to Chrome, allowing users to browse any part of the web in VR, not just those sites that are specially built for VR.