The BBC have already taken some steps towards producing content in virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree video. Now that has been solidified with the creation of BBC Reality Labs, a division of BBC R&D focussed on creating content in VR and augmented reality (AR).
BBC Reality Labs will be extending the work the BBC has already done in the VR area and looking into how VR and AR technologies can improve the BBC as a whole. The BBC Reality Labs team plans to work with the W3C web consortium as well as continuing to use the open-source WebVR standard to produce high-quality VR content that is viewable using only a web browser.
Part of the plan for BBC Reality Labs is to further developer WebVR content and examine how web browsers can be used to deliver VR content to audiences.
According to a blog post, the BBC Reality Labs team will be working with various existing BBC creative teams to see how well VR and AR content would fit into existing workflows and frameworks at the BBC, and what changes could be made to make content creation easier.
The recently launched BBC Taster VR app will form a key part of the strategy.
There are also plans to work with various media partners outside the BBC to bring content to existing hardware and platforms, such as extending the Bbc’s partnership with Aardman Animation in the VR realm. As stated on the blog: “There’ll be times when we want to investigate and research a specific element of content creation that won’t be covered by the slate of work that our partners are working on, though. In these cases we’ll be working with the creative industries to make our own content to evaluate and further our own research.”
Further information can be found on the BBC blog.
VRFocus will bring you further information on BBC Reality Labs as it becomes available.
