In the round: getting the BBC in 360

How new cameras, production techniques and technology are putting viewers right in the picture at the BBC. 

The most disruptive technology we have seen for a generation" is how the BBC BlueRoom team described Virtual Reality and 360 degree video when they reported back from the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last January. 

It's important to distinguish between VR and 360 video. While the gaming industry is excited about VR - which puts you 'inside' an artificial environment - broadcasters are waking up to the idea that viewers can also be put in the middle of the action of real action on film, via 360 degree video.  

Viewed on a headset, you can feel in the same situation as the camera. But even on a flat screen, 360 video provides a new way of interacting with an event; you can scroll around to see different aspects of what's been filmed. You just need to look at YouTube to see some examples of what's out there.

BBC Television sees 360 video (as opposed to VR) as an imminent area of strategic interest. The BlueRoom's report says that "the technology is now sufficiently mature that the BBC needs to give active consideration to which genres and programme types could benefit from 360, and which would not". 

The work has begun, as you can see at the test platform BBC Taster. Most notably, you can find yourself on the Strictly dancefloor, or diving with whales with the Natural History Unit's team.

Zillah Watson, Editor BBC R&D, has been busy advising journalists keen to give 360 a go. Check out the BBC News Labs site for the first film from last June from the migrant 'jungle' camp in Calais, and a tour of Westminster. 

"The composition of the shot brings up different questions each time you go to cover a story" she says. "If it gives the viewer a better sense of the location and the space, then for a news story it could really enhance the narrative."   

Even Radio is getting in on the act. At Radio 1Xtra, the Radio Visualisation team thought there could be a ready audience for the new technology among their typically youthful and diverse audience. The "rap battle" they filmed in the round, Fire in the Booth, has so far clocked 400 thousand views. [Beware the strong language in this clip.] 

Head of Technology for Radio, Paul Morgan, says there are many lessons still to be learned. "The basic set-up is six GoPro cameras on a tripod, and 'sticher' software to run the images together . It works pretty well, but it's best not to have too much action at a 'join' and lighting is key". 

Paul sees the next step as working out how to improve sound, to get it coming from the right place, wherever you turn. Expect to hear more about binaural audio, which locates the sound more realistically 'external' to you rather than in the ear, and object-based audio "which will be massive for Radio in the next few years anyway". 

The editorial questions raised by VR are only just beginning. How much should we guide the viewer? What material works better? 

"We have to keep an open mind about how the audience will react and how interactive people expect the experience to be" says Paul Morgan. "We could just place a camera in the middle of a talk studio so you can see people's reactions as well as the speaker, but will the off-stage business just be distracting?"

"Workflow tools are developing fast in the 360 space too." says Andy Corp of BBC Engineering, TV. "Manufacturers are moving quickly to develop the tools needed to stitch, manipulate and get the most of 360 cameras. For high-end 360 productions it may still be necessary to use specialist graphics software and operators, but it's increasingly feasible for a self-op producer to create 360 content which is of a good standard."  

Incorporating 360 video into the production chain isn't going to happen overnight, but it's going to be a fascinating journey.