Social VR platform Bigscreen is first and foremost a destination where users can share their desktop screens with friends. Bigscreen TV, however, takes the service in a new direction.
Released today, Bigscreen TV allows up to eight VR users to watch over 50 live channels together. The service will provide free access to channels like Red Bull TV, NBC, Pluto Movies and Bloomberg with integration from platforms like YouTube and Twich. Each channel can host “thousands” of people watching them in groups of eight. Channels are public, so you can meet new people that want to watch similar content to you.
Bigscreen’s cross-platform support is alive and well here, meaning PC VR (Rift, Index, Vive, Windows) users can join Oculus Go, Quest and Gear VR users too. Not every channel will be available in every region, but most will offer 24/7 content.
“We built a new VR video browser technology that can load video streaming and livestreaming sites,” Bigscreen’s Darshan Shankar explained in a blog post. “We have integrated YouTube, Twitch, Pluto, and Comet, with more sites coming soon. Bigscreen TV enables VR users to access content they can already access via a web browser, but with a user experience that’s like an Apple TV.”
Moreover, there will be new Bigscreen TV events, with upcoming offerings include the Overwatch League Playoffs and SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch. Elsewhere, today’s update brings a new modern-themed starting environment, UX improvements and bug fixes. A friends system and premium movie nights are still to come.
The release follows a huge 2019 update for the app that arrived in February. Bigscreen remains in beta as a free download.
BBC motoring show Top Gear was one of the best-known TV programmes in the world, thanks to audacious road trips and massive stunts. Fans of the show will now be able to enjoy three new pieces of content, all filmed in 360-degrees, putting them in the driver’s seat for some outlandish stunts.
This is Top Gear doing what it does best, taking cars and doing some insane stunts, just this time you’re the driver. Over on the Top Gear YouTube channel, you’ll find the first of three 360 films covering several death-defying stunts. To start things off, the first film treats the viewer like one of the cast, relaxing in a trailer. A member of the Top Gear production team then escorts them to a buggy which drives around the stunt they’re about to face.
For the first stunt, the viewer is strapping themselves into a petrol tanker and jumping a petrol station (normal everyday stuff). Naturally, this being Top Gear things don’t go as smoothly as possible.
The next two 360 films will be released episodically, with the second jumping over a mini-music festival in an old, underpowered campervan, while the third film sees old Star in a Reasonably Priced Car motor, the Kia C’eed, taking on a jump over a supermarket carpark into the last parking space. The series will conclude with a behind-the-scenes video revealing how the films were made.
“We wanted to create entertaining content for our YouTube channel that took fans behind the scenes of a Top Gear stunt. And by producing this content in 360 we were able to ‘virtually’ put viewers right there in the driving seat of three enormously inappropriate stunt vehicles, something we’ve never done before. The results, as you will see, are smashing!,” says Duncan Gray, Commercial Director, Top Gear in a statement.
Created by Top Gear in collaboration with REWIND (Curfew: Join the Race, Ghost in the Shell VR) you can check out the video below or watch with a compatible headset like Oculus Quest using the YouTube VR app. As more of the films are released VRFocus will keep you updated on their release.
On this episode of DT Live, we talk the top trending tech stories of the day, including Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10 unveiling, YouTube’s AR makeup tutorials, Niantic’s new Harry Potter AR game, and more.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced today at E3 that the infotainment screens will support YouTube video streaming very soon. This most likely lines up with the latest software update that is expected later this year.
On this episode of DT Live, we discuss the latest on Amazon’s drone deliveries, YouTube's purge of extremist videos, the Ubercopter taking flight, details on Sony’s PS5, Tetris’ anniversary, and more.
YouTube has announced that the company's VR application will be a part of the Quest launch, which goes down at the end of May. It will be delivering and over one million videos, including Emmy-award winning content.
I love sharing content about virtual reality (VR) in education whether that be here on VRFocus, on my own site www.virtualiteach.com or in-person at events around the world. I also love connecting with other people working in the VR education space through social media channels as well as my monthly #CPDinVR events inside Engage. The VR education community has grown substantially in the last couple of years and there are now a wide range of places to look if you’re interested in using VR as a medium for learning. So for this month’s article I wanted to highlight some of the best communities and content out there if you are looking to build your PLN and find fresh ideas for using VR in the classroom.
Twitter
Without a doubt, the most widely used hashtag related to immersive tech in education is #ARVRinEDU which is moderated by edtech pioneer and author of Learning Transported, Jaime Donally. Jaime also coordinates a weekly Twitter chat on this hashtag where she demos educational AR and VR apps and shares best practice with immersive technology. The chat is attended by educators from across the globe and is always a fun, lively discussion. It’s also worth giving a shout out to Jamie’s website www.arvrinedu.com where she curates some of her Twitter content as well as sharing other ideas and projects.
In terms of other hashtags to look out for, things like #VReducation #VRedu and #VR;earning are also quite common but none have the consistency of #ARVRinEDU. I did also consider compiling a specific list of educators who tweet about VR in education too but ultimately decided against it. Not only would the list be pretty long but inevitably I’d forget someone. Instead, use the hashtags to identify those educators (and developers) that are engaging with discussion and sharing great content.
Facebook
There are actually more than a dozen Facebook groups specifically dedicated to VR in Education. Personally, I’m in all of them but some are definitely more active than others. Some also tend to get spammed by resellers a little but nothing that’s too disruptive.
There are three in particular that I’d like to highlight.
With over 4500 members this is the largest FB group dedicated to VR in Education and tends to have the most interaction. Definitely, the one I’d recommend joining first. Discussion is varied and with members from across the globe, you get a great mix of perspectives from this group.
Managed by the always excellent Michael Fricano, this was a group specifically focused on the use of the Oculus Go in the classroom but has recently expanded in preparation for the Quest launch. If you’re using these headsets in schools, you can find a lot of great discussion as well as support here.
This is one of the smaller groups but it’s definitely worth being part of. It’s managed by Eric Hawkinson who is based in Japan and is definitely one of the most innovative voices in VR education. With so much content in the other groups coming from the US and Europe, it’s great to get some regular insight into the way that VR is being harnessed in the East.
YouTube
I’d love to say that there are loads of great YouTube channels for learning more about VR in Education but sadly there aren’t. In January of this year, I launched my own channel but in truth with so many other pulls on my time, I’m already struggling to upload content regularly. One thing I did manage to do on my channel was to curate over 1000 educational 360°videos into subject-specific playlists so if you’re looking for 360° content to use with VR headsets or even tablets, it’s a great place to start.
Here are a couple of other channels that are worth checking out:
Bryne is based in Germany and has been doing some incredibly innovative things with high-end VR for some time now. I’d also recommend checking out his website at www.vrintheclassroom.com
Technically this is mine too since the VR content here was produced by me (I don’t run the channel though). This is where you can find videos from some of the VR projects I have coordinated at JESS over the last few years.
AltspaceVR
Whilst I continue to use Engage for my #CPDinVR events, last year my friend Daniel Dyboski-Bryant launched a monthly meetup inside AltSpace for educators around the world who are interested in VR. The Educators in VR events have been well-attended and featured some great guest speakers including Jessica Outlaw, Gabe Baker and Joe Millward. Free to attend and since AltSpace has a low entry point in terms of hardware, you can access the sessions from pretty much any device! Well worth checking out.
Here’s a recording of one of the events from last November:
Podcasts
I know that podcasts aren’t really a social network but I’d be remiss if I left this one excellent resource off this list. The Virtual Reality Podcast is hosted by a super-team of edtech trailblazers from the USA – Alex Chaucer, Steven Sato, James McCrary and Amanda Fox. Now in its second season, the team have done a stellar job of lining up guests from across the VR space including Stanford’s Jeremy Bailenson, Charlie Fink, Brian Costello and Jaime Donally. Available across the usual variety of podcast platforms, it’s an excellent way to learn more about VR in education in a different format and makes for great listening whilst driving to work!
I’m going to wrap up there but I know some of you are probably wondering why I haven’t included other social platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit, Instagram, Discord etc. To be honest, there are various reasons – some tend to just act as mirrors for VR education content that is shared on Twitter anyway (like Instagram), others have no real active VR education community groups (like Reddit). If you do think I’ve missed something useful though, please do reach out to me on Twitter via @steve_bambury
Machinima, a YouTube gaming channel that was launched in 2006, has suddenly shut down, with all of its videos set to private. The #RIPMachinima hashtag is now making the rounds in social media to reminisce about the channel's content.
In a letter to shareholders, Netflix explained that it views the video game Fortnite as bigger competition than HBO, with YouTube videos of the game drawing viewers away from the streaming platform.
Open Broadcaster Software is a free and open-source tool for recording and streaming video footage from your screen and webcam to broadcast to fans everywhere.
