360-degree videos and VR technologies have been around for years. However, recent technological advances have led to a consumer-based virtual reality production. To be more specific, two main technological advances shaped this opportunity: cameras that can record a scene in 360° video and the evolution of VR headsets.
In the beginning of 2012, Nonny de la Peña, a former Newsweek reporter, introduced her latest project Hunger in Los Angeles, a virtual reality experience which placed the viewers in line at a Los Angeles food bank witnessing a man collapse from a diabetic attack. Viewers were quite traumatized from this experience. Hence, de la Peña succeeded in reaching her goal as a journalist: to create stories that can make a difference, to inform the audience of their surroundings and inspire them to care.
It was during this time that de la Peña’s intern, Palmer Luckey, developed the Oculus Rift (fig. 1) headset. This new advancement, along with de la Peña’s project’s success, encouraged companies and researchers to become more fascinated by both the content and broadcasting sides of VR. A few years later, a wide range of other headsets have emerged such as the Cardboard (fig. 2) (by Google), the Gear VR (fig. 3) (by Samsung), the Vive (by HTC) and many others. These progresses coupled with new 360° cameras, 3D-video capture and display technology, have encouraged media’s interest in VR storytelling. More specifically, it was the application of VRSE — now With.in, by American filmmaker Chris Milk — that encouraged news media’s interest in VR. Milk used 3D immersive experiences and 360-degree videos to showcase significant topics such as Clouds over Sidra.
