The main hurdles that we spend a lot of time thinking about are inspiring mass adoption, creating great content, and continuing the discovery of what VR is capable of.

Widening the consumer base is a top priority. VR can (and will) be a revolutionary platform for gaming and entertainment, but we’ve been seeing firsthand just how far the medium can reach. We now have the power to traverse great distances in no time at all and walk a mile in another man’s shoes. VR has the power to transform how people feel about one another. How can VR continue to reshape journalism and news? How can VR affect education and learning? Every new revolutionary technology, be it the cell phone or the laptop, is pushed to the limits by humanity. How do we use this thing in a way where our lives are greatly improved? VR is no different. 2016 will see the continued push to explore how VR can transform existing modes of communication, bring people closer together, and make our lives more streamlined.

Next, creating great content. I think we’re entering a period of rapid experimentation and exploration. I think over the course of the next year we’ll see a lot more narrative exploration in VR. Storytellers are already retraining their brains to think in 360º, and so many great VR experiences already exist. I believe that great storytellers can tell a great story using anything. As more and more companies and studios invest in VR, we’re going to see some really great narrative experiments. We’re still at the infancy of this new art form. It took cinema decades to invent the close-up. Even longer to invent the match-cut. So on and so forth. As technology grows more widespread and the creation of VR experiences becomes democratized, we’re going to hear from new voices.

The simplest way we arrive at compelling content in VR is to imagine what would be compelling to experience in real life. In a lot of ways, VR is the closest we’ve come to inventing a teleportation device. You can take anyone from anywhere and transport them into moments, experiences, and stories. VR can eliminate the proximity between people, places, and things in a way that I haven’t seen done before. It’s helpful to think about what kinds of characters you want your audience to interact with, and how you’ll want the audience to remember them. That’s really what the storytelling goal should be: to create memories. Once you’ve got that in mind, you can reverse engineer everything else. We’re going to start seeing stories that take us to faraway and impossible locations, and stories that blur the lines between our world and the virtual one.

*The views expressed in this editorial are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of Samsung Electronics.

CES 2016 is in full swing and there’s plenty to see and do at Samsung Electronics’ booth. Among the show’s areas of interest is the Samsung Galaxy Studio’s Gear VR Theater with 4D —a spot so popular, in fact, that there was already an exceptionally long line of eager attendees waiting to check it out when it opened this morning. So far, even it’s the first day of show, there have been about 10,000 visitors at the Galaxy Studio, with around 2,000 participating in the activity.

Samsung Newsroom was fortunate enough to participate in the activity firsthand and we were just as excited to experience Samsung’s latest endeavors in virtual reality entertainment. Needless to say, we were not let down.

As we anxiously waited to take our seats, high-energy music sounded throughout the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, creating a lively atmosphere that complemented the neon that illuminated the Samsung Galaxy Studio. Not before long, we were showed to our seats—4D chairs that stretched out into a staggered semicircle overlooking the hubbub of the exhibition floor.

Following the directions of the assistants, we put on Samsung’s Gear VR headsets, not knowing what to expect next. In seconds, we were no longer in the middle of a tech exhibition, but were instead sitting in the front seat of a roller coaster train.

Soon, our chairs began to move in tandem with the video displayed on our headsets, and we couldn’t help but laugh in excitement as we felt the familiar jerk of the train as it moved along the wooden track below us. As we ascended to what felt like a rather terrifying height, we looked around in all directions, taking in the scenery of the surrounding wooded area and other amusement park rides that filled it. Unlike the traditional 4D theater experience in which viewers wear 3D glasses, this felt entirely new. It felt like we were really there.

Upon reaching the top, nervousness filled us while we looked down the drop. As we quickly veered through tight curves, excited chatter came from all directions.

An attendee sitting next to us shouted, “Look behind you!” Sure enough, there was an animated group of adrenaline junkies holding in their screams.

Another participant nearby told his friend, “It feels so real!” And it did—very, very real.

The lifelike experience ended when we made it safely to the platform and were then transported back to the Samsung Galaxy Studio. Although we hadn’t known what to expect, one thing had been made clear: Samsung’s Gear VR had completely upgraded the 4D experience.

In addition to the “Wooden Coaster” video, Samsung is also showcasing other immersive virtual content such as “Horror Maze” and “Surfing in Tahiti.”

With all the announcements made by Samsung at CES 2016 thus far, including its growing ecosystem of partners like Oculus as well as its efforts to expand its content of 360-degree videos, it’s certain that the company will continue to transform the way the world is entertained.
For more information about CES 2016, please visit our exclusive page #SAMSUNGxCES2016

For so long, virtual reality was thought of as impractical and futuristic—a mind-boggling technology plucked from the pages of science fiction, solely utilized by diehard gamers and tech geeks. But the past couple of years have shown us that virtual reality has already trickled into a variety of industries, from film and entertainment to education and advertising. This rapidly growing and expanding virtual environment is powered by 360-degree video, a new kind of medium that allows viewers to sense the action from all angles and directions, so they feel as if they’re actually in the scene as it unfolds before their eyes.

In the Middle of the Action

Recognizing the potential of this highly immersive means of delivering content, online platforms such as YouTube, Flickr and Facebook have taken numerous measures to support 360-degree video formats. In doing so, people are now able to experience things they wouldn’t likely encounter in “reality,” such as flying a WWII fighter plane or viewing Earth from the International Space Station, in new and unique ways.

While these kinds of videos generally provide an immersive experience, traditional filmmakers and production companies are exploring how 360-degree video can also transform storytelling and make a viewer feel more emotionally involved. Some of the most favored videos among those already published have been horror films, which trap viewers in eerie, highly atmospheric scenes in which they can literally look over their shoulder to see what’s lurking in the dark.

Engrossing and emotion-provoking videos like these have given way to an unpredictable increase in the popularity of virtual reality elements at this year’s major film festivals—including Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca and Hot Docs—and have accelerated major film and television studios’ recent VR initiatives.

Storytelling in the Age of Digital Video

Journalists are also hoping to evoke similar emotions and create empathy in a field that is often criticized for lacking such components. The New York Times, for example, recently ventured into the world of 360-degree video storytelling with “The Displaced,” their Nov. 5 story about the plight of refugee children forced from their homes by war and persecution. This pioneering journalistic endeavor let viewers move their mobile devices around to take in the full scenery, exploring the refugee experience in a highly personal way.

But storytelling isn’t just for journalism. In fact, the buzzword is also strongly tied to the advertising industry, and 360-degree video provides a way to create intense moments and rich, enveloping experiences that can help boost a brand’s story. So much so that the medium is predicted to be one of the biggest marketing trends to watch for in 2016. Already several large media organizations, as well as athletes, celebrities and TV show producers, have put together promotional videos offering a variety of immersive content options to engage fans. Consumer brands have also begun utilizing 360-degree video technologies in striking advertising campaigns to reach out to the young, tech-savvy consumers of today.

In addition to entertainment, news and marketing, there are a whole host of use cases that 360-degree video creators have only just begun to explore. Such use cases include educational applications, like surgical training tools for medical students, and content that aims to treat illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder in war veterans or phantom limb syndrome in amputees.

A New Way to Consume, Create and Connect

The quality of 360-degree video has improved greatly in recent years, due in large part to the technology that enables its creation and consumption. What was once only available for viewing on a personal computer can now also be easily accessed and viewed on a mobile device. Yet 360-degree video is most impressive when experienced through mobile virtual reality devices, such as Samsung’s new consumer edition of the Gear VR headset, which hit shelves last month.

Headsets like Samsung’s utilize gyro sensors, geomagnetic sensors and proximity sensors to shift the 360-degree video and sound in unison with the user’s head movements, tricking the brain into reacting as if it were all real. And, considering the advantages of smartphone capabilities, the masses can now experience virtual reality in all its glory at a comparatively low cost.

Furthermore, with the Samsung Internet for Gear VR app, users can now also browse the web and experience digital content in a highly immersive environment, as if they were at the cinema watching it on the big screen. With the ability to stream both 360-degree and 3D videos from the web, the app provides users with an easily accessible, fully immersive VR viewing experience.

While the technology utilized to view 360-degree video continues to advance, so does the camera equipment used to film the content, making it easier and more affordable for just about anyone to produce their own omnidirectional films. Furthermore, organizations are opening their doors to foster the creation and development of 360-degree video content. The Sundance Institute, for example, has established a residency program for independent filmmakers who hope to lay the groundwork for this new film language. Likewise, YouTube Space is a studio that offers resources for creatives to produce 360-degree video, and conducts periodic workshops and social gatherings to help creators collaborate with one another.

Although 360-degree video has already made its mark on a variety of industries, it is certain that people will begin to share far more VR content—whether personal experiences or artistic endeavors—as technology makes it easier for amateurs to produce it themselves. As more content is created, sites will adapt by adding supportive features, and, soon enough, 360-degree video will allow people to create, tell and share the stories and experiences that are important to them in a richer and more immersive way.

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