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posted by CoolHand on Monday June 19 2017, @04:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-look-back dept.

YouTube's revealed the secret to making an engaging virtual reality video: put the best parts right in front of the audience so they don't have to move their heads.

Google's video vault offers that advice on the basis of heat maps it's created based on analysis of where VR viewers point their heads while wearing VR goggles. There's just such a heat map at the top of this story (or here for m.reg readers) and a bigger one here.

The many heat maps YouTube has made lead it to suggest that VR video creators "Focus on what's in front of you: The defining feature of a 360-degree video is that it allows you to freely look around in any direction, but surprisingly, people spent 75% of their time within the front 90 degrees of a video. So don't forget to spend significant time on what's in front of the viewer."

YouTube also advises that "for many of the most popular VR videos, people viewed more of the full 360-degree space with almost 20% of views actually being behind them." Which sounds to El Reg like VR viewers are either staring straight ahead, or looking over their shoulders with very little time being devoted to sideways glances.

A video channel wants people to treat VR like video. Hmmm. Perhaps the answer to their question is in the question: people should be considered "participants" instead of an "audience."


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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday June 19 2017, @07:23PM (4 children)

    by bob_super (1357) on Monday June 19 2017, @07:23PM (#528101)

    It is quite idiotic to use VR, a system designed for free-form 360 degrees viewing, to watch a movie or documentary, where a big part of the director's effort go to making you look at various things in a certain sequence to create a narrative.

    Use VR for open-world games (renew the detective genre, or go around shooting stuff as usual), architecture, landscapes... Anything where you're advancing the story at your pace, not someone else's...

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 19 2017, @07:40PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 19 2017, @07:40PM (#528103)

    I'm telling you that I think the director made a mistake; he has failed to capture my attention, and has instead broken the illusion.

    Then again, when I watch movies with other people, I find that they have almost zero conscious appreciation for the cinematographic choices that are being made; they seem completely oblivious to that aspect of the artistry.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 19 2017, @09:14PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 19 2017, @09:14PM (#528153)

      People care more for content than the delivery. If two people are talking then the importance of the videography is second to the story line. Generally people focus on what the people are saying more than the atmosphere they're saying it in. That is just normal, deviations from that norm require focus and attention otherwise the brain just works around any awkward visuals as long as they aren't too extreme.

  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday June 20 2017, @06:25AM (1 child)

    by frojack (1554) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @06:25AM (#528355) Journal

    I find it idiotic for You to make pronouncements about how OTHER people use technology.
    Who appointed you?

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday June 20 2017, @07:18AM

      by bob_super (1357) on Tuesday June 20 2017, @07:18AM (#528359)

      Someone who likes to read opinions preceded or followed by a rational, if arguably limited by time and format, justification.