Visbit, virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree video streaming company, announced today at IEEE VR Summit 2017 a technical breakthrough it had in research and development that proves streaming in 12K 360-degree VR video is now possible for the first time ever – even when using today’s available hardware with regular Wi-Fi or LTE (a demo video can be seen here).
“Today, 360-degree videos are mostly streamed at 1080p and occasionally at 4K. You rarely hear of 6K video streaming, so 12K, a resolution that is very close to the acuity of 20/20 human vision, is unheard of, especially when streaming on today’s regular Wi-Fi and LTE conditions,” said Visbit Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Changyin (CY) Zhou. “There have been advancements in networking technology, such as Intel and Ericsson’s recent demo of a 5G prototype to support 8K VR live streaming from a local server at Mobile World Congress this year, but average consumers won’t have 5G at home for years to come. With our Visbit View-Optimized Streaming technology, 12K video in 360-degrees can run on today’s networks with existing hardware, meaning that viewers can now zoom in and focus on granular details with today’s 2.5K HMD screen and achieve a viewing experience equal to 12K. This unlocks a whole new user experience for viewing 360-degree VR video, as well as new possibilities for content creation.”
This huge milestone and technological breakthrough will enable a more immersive experience and allow VR video content creators and publishers to produce and distribute higher than 6K resolution VR video content. Using Visbit’s View-Optimized Streaming (VVOS) technology, users can zoom in and focus on specific details, such as the plays or jersey number of an athlete during a sporting event, the names of storefronts in a city tour video or on minute details in a surgery being studied. By simply double-tapping the control panel and zooming in, viewers can also increase the feeling of interaction and mobility, getting one step closer to the engaging experience they crave with Mobile VR.
Visbit’s streaming service is currently available in closed beta for use on mobile VR platforms, including the Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus and Google Cardboard. The open beta version is expected to launch later this year. For more details go to www.visbit.co.
