Movies enter the era of virtual reality and the viewing experience will usher in a new chapter

According to foreign media reports, in the past two years, virtual reality development companies of all sizes have been working overtime to create a virtual reality application for users and put it into real use. This application is called a "killer application."

Virtual reality may one day send you into space or take you under the ocean. But for now, its biggest use is probably to play movies for you. Not games, but movies. As virtual reality technology becomes more popular, companies like Oculus are beginning to realize the technology's potential for playing movies.

Two years ago, Oculus first released their virtual reality helmet, which was defined as a new type of gaming device. Companies such as Samsung and Sony also joined in and began to study this new technology. But in order to truly bring this technology to the mainstream market, this product must be defined as more than just a gaming device. This is where movies come into the vision of virtual reality companies.

Jens Christensen, director of Jaunt, a virtual reality camera manufacturer, said, "The key to getting consumers to accept this technology is to have realistic content and to continue to provide such content so that people can't leave it." Another is that virtual reality is not like traditional devices, where the screen is not very visible. Now, by using a virtual reality helmet, a 20-foot screen is presented in front of you. This is a virtual screen, but it is very huge and feels very different.

Virtual Reality Is Not 3D TV

Virtual reality isn't the first technology to try to get users to jump to a new display platform. The consumer electronics industry's most recent attempt is 3D TVs. These TVs achieve 3D by displaying two images on the screen at slightly different angles. This was a result of the success of the movie "Avatar," and some TV channels have since started playing the 3D card.

But 3D TVs never really took off with consumers, and analysts blamed the 3D glasses, accessories that always looked goofy and uncomfortable.

When virtual reality came out, some people worried that the technology would be as inconvenient to use as 3D TV: If users watched the 3D effect for too long, they might get a headache. Samsung, which will release a Gear VR virtual reality device this fall, has set the time limit for users to watch the 3D effect for less than an hour, which is enough time to play a few rounds of games.

As for longer movies, Samsung hopes consumers will get used to the device after using it for a while. Samsung's research shows that many users feel comfortable wearing VR headsets for two hours or more.

Cinema-like experience

Oculus, the virtual reality company acquired by Facebook for $2 billion in March, is also developing its own video playback app, called Oculus Cinema, which can play movies and give users a comfortable viewing experience for several hours.

To do this, the cinema app places the user in the best viewing position in the center of the theater, with rows of seats and walls visible around them, just like being in a real theater. The movie will be played on a virtual screen, and even the seats will reflect light like in reality.

Users can choose the theater they want, whether it's a standard theater or an IMAX theater. Although the IMAX virtual screen is large, in reality, it's all just displayed on a piece of glass the size of a palm. Users can even choose a theater on the moon, where the left side may be moon rocks reflecting sunlight, and the right side will see the Apollo lunar module.

This technology can go even further. Currently, the seats next to the moviegoers are empty, but Oculus hopes that in the future, users will be able to see their family and friends sitting next to them and watching the movie with them, so that users can get a social experience while watching the movie. It can even allow users to watch the DreamWorks movie "Madagascar" with the movie characters.

Max Cohen, head of Oculus' mobile business, said that for Oculus, this is not just a hobby. The company has arranged several engineers and a product manager to be responsible for this research and development, and hopes that more people will join in. Our goal is to incorporate existing movies into our ecosystem and let them run in a virtual reality environment.

Although many Hollywood companies have begun to study virtual reality technology, it is still unclear how many studios are willing to re-adapt their films for virtual reality technology. Online video operators Netflix and Hulu have not yet stated whether they will join the virtual reality camp.

What is known so far is that there is not much difference between using virtual reality technology to play movies and playing them on TV. The screen and computing body of the Gear VR, which Samsung cooperated with Oculus, are actually Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 smartphones.

Licensing does not seem to be an issue, as Samsung said it does not need to change its contracts with content providers under current circumstances. Other video providers may be able to follow the same path.

Hardware improvements

Of course, there is still some work to be done to get a good movie-watching experience, especially on the devices themselves. Hardware vendors need to make sure their chips are up to the task.

Qualcomm has worked with Samsung to make Gear VR more immersive. Qualcomm's chip has become the processor in the Note 4 in Gear VR, tracking the user's movements by interacting with sensors in the helmet. This helps make the image display smoother and reduces the possibility of jitter and image lag.

Qualcomm is also working on better sensors that can detect motion more accurately. Other improvements include reducing power usage and "immersive" surround sound. Jay White, vice president of product management at Qualcomm, said his research group has worked with Samsung and Oculus to provide augmented reality virtual reality helmet technology.

The future of virtual reality movies

The next wave of VR movies will be the products that filmmakers are developing. Chief among these companies are hardware manufacturers that are designing cameras that can produce movies that give users wearing VR headsets a full three-dimensional sense of space. That is, different images will appear in front of you, behind you, and to your left and right.

The biggest problem with these types of films right now is the availability of footage. Cameras that can capture 360-degree views are still under development. But technology experts say fully immersive video experiences will eventually become a reality.

Manufacturers are looking to develop such camera devices that can be placed on a tabletop to capture the world around you. When you miss a sporting event, a friend's wedding or other life experiences, 360-degree panoramic cameras can recreate these scenes and put you in the middle of them. These videos will make people feel like they are part of the video rather than just watching it.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.