Category: RT

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Life In 360°: Let’s Go For A Walk

We do have some content creators that crop up every now and again on Life In 360°. That’s just the way of things. Today’s offering comes courtesy of Russian international television network RT, who featured once before on Li360 back in May this year but who also turn up occasionally in our general news, owing to their dedication to experimenting with 360 degree video.

In appropriate timing considering the 60th anniversary of Sputnik’s launch, RT have announced what they are calling “the world’s first-ever 360-video filmed in open space”. Yes, we’re going up and out. The video is a continuation of RT’s Space 360 project which has showcased a number of recordings from around the International Space Station (ISS). A collaboration that has had RT work with both the Roscosmos State Corporation and Energia Rocket and Space Corporation.

Now though we’re going outside the ISS courtesy of cosmonauts Sergey Ryazansky and Fyodor Yurchikhin, joining them as they do some needed work including launching a box satellite by the most appropriate method possible: grabbing it and tossing it towards the Earth!

“The first-ever panoramic video from open space is a revolution both for VR technology and for the exploration of the universe.” Explains Eduard Chizhikov who heads RT’s Space 360 project. “Thanks to the project, any person on Earth can feel what it’s like to be in space from the comfort of their own home. Our video offers an opportunity to get closer to the infinite. Welcome to outer space!”

You can see the amazing video below. VRFocus will be back with Life In 360° on Monday.

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Life In 360°: By Land And Air We’re Off To Red Square

Now you may recall back last September we featured the famous Red Square of Moscow as the partial backdrop to a recording by RT from the final night of the 2016 Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival.  We’re back in Russia today for military related video in 360 degrees courtesy of the state broadcaster, only this time we’re dropping the whole ‘music’ thing.

Instead we’ve RT’s coverage of yesterday’s 2017 Moscow’s Victory Day (V-Day) parade, a celebration of the anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945. Victory In Europe Day (VE-Day) is actually on May 8th based on when the surrender was signed but thanks to time-zones it was already on the 9th in the Russian states and surrounding countries. Hence the celebration in Russia was yesterday and not Monday.

In any case RT have produced three 360 degree videos. The first covers a column of military vehicles as they move down to Red Square, the second is mounted on the front of a vehicle as it rolls through Red Square and the third follows the Swifts and Russian Knights aerobatic teams as they practiced their moves over Moscow on the way too Red square. Three for the price of one today on Life In 360°.

VRFocus will be back with another example (or three) this Friday at the usual time.



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VR Film To Feature Heavily At Stockholm’s VR Scientific Festival 2017

There continues to be a lot of discussion about virtual reality (VR)’s place in the future of the film industry, big names and big studios continue to dip their toes and make encouraging noises about the technology but the decrease in price and increase in availability of 360 degree cameras has meant a growing interest at grassroots level and higher in creating cinematic experiences that tap into VR technologies.

Next Friday, May 12th 2017 a three day festival is being held in Stockholm, Sweden, to celebrate the burgreoning interest. It is being hosted by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Called the VR Scientific Festival (or VR Sci Fest) it describes itself as a “unique experiment, where technology, science and creativity come together to find the best ways of using VR technologies to benefit people around the world”.

Speaking on the convention’s official website, festival head Elena Malakhatka said: “Our goal was to create a unique meeting point for those who are passionate about their profession, no matter if it is science, cinema, VR, education or anything else and to share their passion with each other. That’s why we created VR Expo zone, series of workshops, lectures and discussions about the future of the technology, as well as Art zone and showcase of the world best artistic VR experiences as a part of Kaleidoscope VR World Tour”.

Over the course of the event in the ‘Dome of Vision’ the organisers will be showcasing an array of 360 degree short films and documentaries as well as VR experiences relating to an array of social and scientific topics. The categories include the human body, technology and engineering, as well as space and the environment. With big name contributors such as the BBC, RYOT, RT (Russia Today), WITHIN,  NASA, and Google confirmed.

Interested parties can find out more on their website at http://www.vrscifest.com.

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Broadcaster RT Ties Up Multiple 360 Content Licencing Deals

The proliferation of departments dedicated to producing 360 degree content within the mainstream media – both in television and the print press – has been something of a growing narative of virtual reality (VR). One of the earliest examples being last year’s takeover of RYOT by AOL on behalf of The Huffington Post.  Indeed, last week on VRFocus guest columnist Dejan Gajsek wrote specifically about the rise of 360 in his feature “Why Immersive Journalism And Why Now?”.

One broadcaster interested in the possibilities of 360 degree technology – and viewership – is RT, the Moscow-based global TV news network of Russia. RT, which has previously broadcast 360 degree content and released its own RT 360 app back in 2015, is reporting that it has secured a significant number of licensing deals for 360 degree content following the recent MIPTV 2017 event, a dedicated market relating to the television industry.

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RT, which hosted a VR session entitled Integration of 360 Video: Pioneering a New Method of Storytelling showing off its own film documentary Project Duterte to show how outlets could combine panoramic, or 360 degree parts into a traditional broadcast, announced it had licenced its 360 degree content specifically to twenty organisations from different countries around the world including the UK, South Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Making the content a significant part of its content distribution business on the day and a notable factor for the company going forward

“This year at MIPTV we have witnessed a real breakthrough in VR content licensing.” Commented Ed Chizhikov, the head of the aforementioned RT 360, which now has over 100 titles on its books. “For the first time we have concluded multiple VR content deals. It’s a clear sign that the market is becoming more established and that the demand for quality 360 content is growing. RT is uniquely positioned to deliver on this growing demand.”

VRFocus will bring you more information on these developments should more be revealed.