NextVR, one of the few companies providing fans with access to live sporting events in virtual reality, has partnered with Google and with the NBA to expand their services and their global footprint entering 2017.
Previously, NextVR content was only available on Samsung Gear VR headsets. With the introduction of Google Daydream compatibility, owners of specific phones (and Daydream headsets, of course; the list of compatible phones can be found here) can now stream sports and entertainment content from NextVR for no additional charge. Daydream is currently available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, and Australia.
Since the beginning of the season in October, NextVR has broadcast one NBA game live in virtual reality each week via the association’s League Pass program (the full schedule can be viewed here). Additionally, fans in the U.S. have access to full on-demand game replays and highlights in virtual reality.
Following Tuesday’s NextVR broadcast of the contest between the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, on-demand game replays will be available internationally, excluding China. Viewers outside the U.S., though, won’t be able to access live broadcasts at this time — only on-demand content.
NextVR’s suite of content isn’t limited to basketball, though, the company also offers NFL highlights, as well as content from Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and various athletic competitions. The company deploys a host of unique cameras at events that capture the action live, as the feed switches between camera angles to provide fans with the best viewing experience possible.
Each of the cameras captures footage in 6K resolution — higher than any headset can currently support, but the company is planning ahead. Advancements in technology arrive quickly these days and NextVR plans to lap the competition before it even appears. The secret to NextVR’s success is a mixture of live video and 3D rendering effects, which combine to create an experience that truly feels like you are at the game.
To access NextVR content on your Gear VR or Daydream headset, simply download the app on your smartphone, connect the phone to your headset, and open the app. For detailed instructions, see here.
China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.
According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?