Riding the wave of hot concepts like Metaverse and Digital Twins, VR (Virtual Reality), as the foundation of the upcoming virtual world, is gearing up for a comeback. VR cameras were used to livestream the Winter Olympics, providing a different level of immersion that regular broadcasting cannot provide.
Unlike the traditional fixed-view camera position, the VR live-stream (available on CCTV’s official website) brings the audience innovative viewing experiences such as free perspectives, bullet time and VR interaction. When watching on mobile devices, users can tilt their screens to adjust their viewing angle, creating a front-row experience.
Users with VR headsets can also mirror their monitors to their device. According to a report by China Electronics News, the implementation of VR cameras not only benefits the viewers, but also the competitors -- since the cameras can provide accurate shots from multiple angles assisting referees’ judgement.
Although VR live-streaming had been used in the Olympics before, such as at Tokyo 2020 and PyeongChang 2018. Beijing 2022 is the first Olympic Games to stream entirely in 4K, with VR and AR features. According to RADII, China Unicom helps facilitate the broadcasting process, providing ultra-high-definition content to viewers abroad, with resolutions ranging from 4k to 8k. During the Winter Olympics, there are 200 8k broadcasting panels in Beijing, allowing viewers to watch the events outdoors, in commercial establishments and even community centres. The success of 8k broadcasts proves that the technology infrastructure is mature enough for VR to be applied on a large scale.
As 5G technology matures, and content with existing fan bases such as sports emerge in the VR world, VR technology is expected to be on the rise. In an interview with Shuhuan Cai, the COO of Kandao Technology — one of the providers of the VR equipment used in Beijing 2022, he predicted that VR streaming will only gain more traction in the future.
“For world-class events, film and television productions, or other large events, VR images have gradually become the standard. The percentage (of usage of VR equipment) will gradually increase until it becomes the most dominant form of media,” said Cai. According to China Academy of Information and Communications Technology's report "Virtual (Augmented) Reality White Paper 2021”, The global virtual reality market is expected to reach RMB 90 billion in 2020, with the VR market at RMB 62 billion and the AR market at RMB 28 billion. It is expected that the global digital reality industry will grow at an average annual rate of 54% during the five-year period of 2020-2024, with VR growing at 45% and AR at 66%, and the market for both will be RMB 240 billion in 2024.
The VR viewing experiences we have now are a product of significant technological advancements, yet is still relatively crude, compared to the potential it holds. As a technology that is made to hijack your senses, VR has the potential to simulate virtual images and sounds close to reality to the point that users can’t tell them apart.
According to Cai, VR technology will evolve towards several key directions, including Ultra HD, elevated immersion, AI and UGC (User Generated Content). Cai explains that Ultra HD is the prerequisite of immersion and advanced AI. With better picture quality and better image reconstruction, thanks to advanced AI, VR content creators will be allowed more freedom when creating a sense of immersion. Eventually, it would be possible to see UGC flourish alongside professional content to eventually achieve AIGC (AI-Generated Content).
“VR is a cutting-edge technology platform. I believe that supply creates demand: first there is the technology that empowers content creation, and then the platform and content creators will create positive feedback loops and help each other grow,” said Cai.
The type of positive relationship between content creation and technology development as Cai describes have already been proven by the market. Kandao Technology has opened an account on Kuaishou, a short video streaming platform, and gathered 1.32 million followers with their 360 VR content. According to Kandao Technology, they have customers across the globe and their products have served a variety of purposes such as broadcasting, program filming, tourism, med-tech, real estate, education, remote work and event hosting.
As VR technology matures, its applications in various industries have begun to flourish and pay dividends. For example, holographic collaboration platform Spatial rode the pandemic wave and saw their demand surged 1000% in 2020. As a virtual platform, Spatial allows users to create avatars and join meetings, conferences or events via VR headsets, computers or mobile devices. As such, Spatial raised $14 million in their Series A investment round. According to PR newswire, Spatial announced its Series B Fundraiser on the 8th of February. According to data compiled by ARtillery Intelligence, the value of the VR business equipment market is set to grow from 829 million USD in 2018 to 4.26 billion USD by 2023.
VR’s applications in gaming and social interactions have great potential too. Hong Kong and Silicon Valley-based Sandbox VR combines motion capture with VR technology to build “holodecks” which has been proven to be a transcendent success. Many tech companies in China such as Baidu and ByteDance have also rolled out their virtual platforms starting last year.
Even though VR technology is still veiled by a sense of novelty, the application of VR in major international events such as the Olympics can quickly promote and familiarise users with the technology, thus lending faith to VR technology developers and content creators.