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Up and Coming
November 19, 2013

Questions About Non-Gaming Entertainment Applications

I'm particularly interested in non-gaming entertainment applications for the Oculus. A couple simple examples...

o Experiencing a band's concert from the perspective of someone sitting in the front row of an arena. This would ideally include the ability to turn around and see the audience "behind" you.

o Experiencing tourist destinations, such as looking around an active landscape - perhaps flowing waterfalls on a pristine island or roaming animals on the safari.

As a total neophyte here, I'm very curious how practical applications like these are...

1) Do cameras exist that can capture this kind of footage? I've read about cameras like the Matterport that seem to capture *still* footage in 360º. Is there camera technology that can do this for *video* footage in at least 180º if not 360º? (As a side note, I'm assuming that the user would be able to look around their environs from a fixed position, i.e. they would be able to look around but not walk around their environs. Enabling a user to move around a non-gaming environment composed of actual video would seem beyond what's feasible but correct me if I'm wrong!)

2) If such camera technology exists to begin with, how compatible would this content be with existing Oculus technology?

3) Have any demos been developed yet that are along the lines of what I'm describing here? Are there any major efforts underway that folks are aware of? I'm interested even if they're not entertainment related, e.g. anything that incorporates real and immersive video content.

4) Are there any forums or past discussion threads that dive into this topic in detail?

I'm interested in reading anything and everything about this topic to the extent that what I'm describing is at all feasible. Apologies for the basic questions. I'm grateful for any insights or direction that folks can offer!

    4 replies

    Participant
    November 19, 2013
    I've come across couple projects that are trying to do what you are describing. The last one I saw was this:
    viewtopic.php?f=42&t=5169
    which looks pretty cool.
    3D Sculpting for Oculus Rift | coming soon ...
    Up and Coming
    November 19, 2013
    search.php?keywords=360+video+


    1-yes
    2-very
    3-yes
    4-many
    Backer "Have faith." -Palmer Luckey
    Inspiring
    November 19, 2013
    I think you're correct about limiting the mobility of the user, until we can store an environment in a crystal memory cube, holographically or multiplexed or something. If you watch "Planet Earth" in full HD it's enough to see the photography ... you don't need to roam around to appreciate it. It will be better in HD 3D.
    My pet project is still photography presentation for the OR, and I have a card full of Luray Caverns pictures ready to process as of this afternoon. If there's anything worth seeing, I'll put some up.
    i7-5820K @ 4.2Ghz, water cooled, Asus X99-Pro USB 3.1, 48 Gb DDR4 2400, Samsung 950 pro M.2 SSD, GTX 980 Ti SC, 750w psu
    Inspiring
    November 20, 2013
    This is link to photobucket that has some pics from Luray Caverns as stereo pairs. http://s763.photobucket.com/user/Roaster-x/library/Luray%20Caverns%203D
    It's worth the trouble to download a few to see them in the Rift.
    I use Stereo Photo Viewer, which allows you to zoom and look around, quite like an I-max screen.
    i7-5820K @ 4.2Ghz, water cooled, Asus X99-Pro USB 3.1, 48 Gb DDR4 2400, Samsung 950 pro M.2 SSD, GTX 980 Ti SC, 750w psu