TF1 and Viaccess-Orca have successfully streamed an international football match combining 360 degree virtual reality with Ultra HD technology.
An invited audience was able to view last week’s friendly between France and Russia, streamed live to three remote sites, using VR headsets. A recording of the broadcast is being made available in Viaccess-Orca’s “Virtual Arena” demo at the 2016 NAB Show, April 18-21 in Las Vegas.
“Viaccess-Orca and TF1 are ushering in a new era for sports entertainment. At the event, our audience experienced an actual stadium ambiance, feeling immersed in the game. This was made possible by our best-of-breed, end-to-end solution for streaming of 360-degree video,” said Alain Nochimowski, Executive Vice President of Innovation at Viaccess-Orca. “Pre-integrated with an ecosystem of technology partners and compatible with existing industry standards, Viaccess-Orca’s ‘Virtual Arena’ offers a premium 360-degree television experience for the emerging VR environment. We are thrilled that, together with TF1 and our technology partners, we are shaping the future of television and paving the way to the ultimate immersion quality and viewer engagement experience.”
Viaccess-Orca, which has demoed VR technology at previous trade shows brought in partners Keepixo and VideoStitch for the demo that utilizes its Connected Sentinel Player for secure playback and cloud-based Voyage TV Everywhere as a Service for interactivity and analytics.
Olivier Abecassis, Chief Digital Officer at TF1 Group said, “At TF1, we work every day to prepare the future of TV and develop new immersive experiences for our audience. This is the reason why we are very happy to be the first TV channel to experiment with the live stream of a football match in 360 degrees in Ultra HD with our partner Viaccess-Orca.”
The “Virtual Arena” demonstration will be available for the first time for the 2016 NAB Show attendees at the Harmonic booth, SU1210.
