YBVR, Verizon, and AWS

technology update

Businesses and developers can build and deploy applications with AWS Wavelength Companies as YBVR are already testing their edge solutions in AWS Wavelength zones at the edge of Verizon’s 5G network in multiple locations. Businesses and developers can build and deploy applications with AWS Wavelength at Verizon’s 5G Edge in three new locations: Atlanta, New York and Washington, DC. Verizon and AWS launched the mobile edge computing (MEC) platform last month in Boston and the Bay Area and plan to add five more cities by year end. Mobile edge computing moves the data and processing done by the applications and services we use closer to the end user at the edge of the network. This shortens the roundtrip data needs to travel, reducing lag time, or latency. By moving AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, innovators can develop applications with ultra-low latencies that will support next-generation use cases ranging from self-driving cars to autonomous industrial equipment. Customers are already testing their edge solutions in AWS Wavelength zones at the edge of Verizon’s 5G network in multiple locations. YBVR is building a next-generation VR video platform and is testing how they can utilize 5G and Wavelength to stream live 8K Ultra HD (UHD) video to sports fans and concertgoers, allowing simultaneous users to choose various camera views with ultra-low latency. “Leveraging the powerful combination of Verizon 5G and AWS Wavelength will enable us to put the ‘fan in control’,” said Sebastian Amengual, YBVR co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. “With 5G and MEC, fans should be able to enjoy 8K live streams on mobile and XR devices in real-time and have their own, personalized watching experience which was not feasible before.” Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network will enable throughput at least 10 times faster than 4G; deliver ultra-low latency and offer very high bandwidth. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is expected to eventually enable 100 times larger data volumes than 4G; and the ability to connect more than a million devices per kilometer. “Watching businesses build transformational applications on the world’s first 5G mobile edge computing platform with AWS Wavelength shows how our 5G Ultra Wideband network matters to customers TODAY and is already impacting how businesses operate and consumers live, work and play,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “When it comes to innovating on 5G and MEC, we’re only scratching the surface.” Learn more information about Verizon 5G Edge and Verizon’s 5G technology. For more information for developers, visit here.

World Bowling

World Bowling Case Study

World Bowling and YBVR, the Silicon Valley immersive technology company, have announced a three-year partnership that will allow millions of fans to experience bowling like never before. YBVR, who has showcased its VR live streaming technology in top sports events like The Australian Open, will work with bowling’s international governing body to deliver the next generation of immersive technology in a multidevice strategy. “We are very excited with this opportunity to take the world of bowling to the next level, and attract new audiences around the world,” said Hector Prieto, YBVR CEO. The partnership will create vibrant and immersive experiences for bowling fans, bringing a new degree of engagement through virtual reality and interactive features. Together, World Bowling and YBVR will work to deliver new content and engage fans with a variety of Apps, software, and innovative solutions that allow for a personalized experience for every user. YBVR technology deploys 8K VR quality streaming and instant camera change in its broadcastings, allowing viewers to catch every second of the action from multiple points of view. Athletes, Coaches and fans will experience a 360 degree vision of the action, along integrated social and interactive capabilities that will connect them in ways until now impossible. “YBVR is an essential piece of the jigsaw in our “Bowling Evolved” strategy, providing multiple ways for our athletes and fans to experience, consume and engage with our elite, para bowling and academy content,” said Chris Neilson, Innovation & Business Development Director, World Bowling. Under the agreement, World Bowling and YBVR will develop a new future for VR coaching and education with further enhancements and integration into the global application for gamification and tournament data tracking. Neilson continues: “Users will be able to consume content via a multi-cam mobile experience in 2D, 180 and 360 with supportive features, real-time statistics and scoreboards for the complete XR experience”. About YBVR – Based in Silicon Valley and Madrid, YBVR is a technology start-up building the next generation VR video distribution platform. The company specializes in providing the best immersion for VR streaming for all devices, all with a single platform. Its technology has already delivered immersive experience to audiences of greatest tennis events, including Australian Open, Laver Cup and Davis Cup. About World Bowling – World Bowling is the International governing body for the sport of Tenpin, Ninepin and the newly formed ParaBowling representing five continental zones and 114 member federations. World Bowling was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979 as the world governing body for the sport of Bowling and by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2019 for ParaBowling. For more information and interviews, please contact: Media Contacts: YBVR ybvr@ybvr.com World Bowling Media Department media@worldbowling.org

VR Control Room: enhancing traditional broadcast with the immersion and interactivity of VR

VR Headset Preview

Some Broadcasters are reluctant to test VR as a new format for their productions due to the effort it would suppose taking them to produce VR video content for every event they are covering. It is indeed a fair concern: current TV productions are already fairly complex: fixed cameras, moving cameras, drones, spider cams, analytics, dynamic graphics, multiple audios, subtitles, closed captions… in this a big and complex environment, adding the sophisticated VR production equipment for what (let’s face it) is still a “marginal” audience does not seem all that worth it to many. The benefit, at least in the short term, does not always compensate the enormous effort and cost in complexity, the entry barrier is simply too steep. In addition to this, regular broadcast has gone through many decades of refinement, and although 360 and 180 video do provide (when delivered properly) a unique novelty of immersion and sense of presence, immersive production practices and techniques are still in the early days, and are not in the same level of refinement and sophistication. This is why, to many broadcasters, doing immersive-only productions doesn’t seem appealing. And yet, the days in which a single produced TV feed was enough seem to be over: we have reached such level of refinement and sophistication in TV that we can barely enjoy it for more than a few seconds. Think of a racing event: with so many things happening at once, so many stats, rich visualizations, in-car cameras, interviews, reverse angles, overtake attempts, accidents, etc. , the produced TV feed can barely scratch the surface of the overall event. The way we experience these events needs to evolve beyond its current form while still enjoying the benefits it has already achieved. With these concerns in mind, YBVR has developed the VR Control Room: a solution to gather all these existing regular video feeds to build an amazing VR experience. This solution puts the user into the TV director’s chair, showing the feeds available to choose. Users can select what feed they prefer at any time, without any interruption in the watching and keeping all the feeds at the sight, all synchronized. Additionally, there is a lot of space around the viewer to include additional elements: match analytics, players bio, competition results, sponsors advertising… using the huge visual real state VR brings to keep users engaged with relevant and interactive content. YBVR’s VR Control Room lowers the barrier of entry to produce compelling immersive experiences: TV producers can offer a compelling VR experience taking advantage of all existing TV content without having to add the complexity of 180 or 360 productions from the beginning. Evolving this experience to increase its immersive appeal is a natural step with built-in support in YBVR platform, since immersive video feeds (up to 8K60FPS 360 video) can easily be added to the experience at any point. This means that broadcasters can include VR video content gradually, as users demand and production resources evolve. VR Control Room is available for Live and also for VoD productions, where users can watch a production again and again, choosing different views every time. YBVR has already applied this technology in the real world. You can find all these concepts applied in the Laver Cup VR App, available for OculusGo (here) and HTC Vive Focus (here), selecting Director’s chair in the Highlights and “Match points” videos. Feel free to share, in the comments of this post, what has been your experience. Don’t miss it!

Transforming Video VR in an interactive experience

Instant Camera Change

Video VR has been blamed frequently for a lack of interactivity, then user retention was condemned to be lower than other VR experiences. In fact, the meantime of watching video VR experiences has been between 2 and 4 minutes (1:30 in this article, others go to 10 minutes as average). Anyway, three factors are key to move this figure up: interest, quality and interactivity. Interest is key because VR is an experience that can be interrupted at any time. The user is the king. Then, a boring piece in the content is an open door to quit the experience. Also, the connection between content and user is basic, the interest is not in the content, it’s in the user, then to find the right content for every user (and the right user for every content) is a success strategy. Quality (video and audio) is also key, because it gives the degree of immersion into the experience. YBVR is pushing VR video quality to the edge of technically available producing 8K@60fps video and applying its own technology of YBVR-FOV-adaptation to show the best quality using standard internet access connections for live and VoD content. Interactivity is the last challenge to improve user retention in video VR. A wide portfolio of videos, a user-friendly menu, categories, recommendations… are techniques to ease the interaction of the user with the app, but it doesn’t get into the watching experience, once the video is playing. YBVR has developed the instant camera change (ICC), it allows the user to change of point of view at any time while the video is playing. Using different video cameras in different positions, the user can jump from one to another camera without any interruption of the action. ICC introduces the interactivity in video VR, users are no longer passive watchers, they’re transformed in the producer of the video experience. The effect on user retention is impressive. In live productions, watching time per user has moved from 7 minutes average to 22 minutes in Live events. You can test by yourself the ICC effect in the Laver Cup VR App, available for OculusGo (here) and HTC Vive Focus (here), and comment in this post what has been your experience. Don’t miss it!

VR headsets, where are you going?

VR Headset

We’ve had two important news related to VR headsets during the last weeks, making a relevant milestone in this industry. The VR path is changing, and we need to understand how we are facing the future to be ready to cope with the new scenario. First, the confirmation about the end of smartphone-VR in the high end. Samsung dropped VR support from its Galaxy Note 10 handset during the summer, confirming the deprecation of Samsung Gear VR. A few weeks ago, John Carmack (Oculus CTO) declared «It is probably time for me to give a bit of a eulogy for Gear VR». He explained the main reason Samsung gave to quit VR was the low retention of the user, in comparison to Rift, Rift S, Quest, and Go. And low retention was produced for the user friction, because users were reluctant to spend battery (so quicky), compromising their mobile availability, and the fact the users had to «get their phones out of their pockets, pull off cases, mount and dock it». A few days later, Google announced they will stop selling Daydream headsets. The company declared to Variety: «We saw a lot of potential in smartphone VR—being able to use the smartphone you carry with you everywhere to power an immersive on-the-go experience. But over time we noticed some clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution. Most notably, asking people to put their phone in a headset and lose access to the apps they use throughout the day causes immense friction». Again, this terrible word for a marketer: “friction”. Usability is the main reason for this friction, but another point has also to be considered: the hard requirements for processor and screen (and eventually battery), pushing the devices further than the specs they were designed for, high-end models included. Different devices for different specifications makes sense, and this is the path VR headsets are taking. The second news is the Oculus Link. Oculus Quest will be able to become a tethered headset with a USB 3 cable, playing most of the PC content developed for Rift. Then, the user will have the opportunity to choose how to use the headset, as a standalone device, for VR video watching and low requirements VR games, or as a tethered device, getting all the power of the PC. This new hybrid headset concept can change the industry, the customer journey into VR and the way content is produced so far. In the near future, standalone and tethered flavors of the content will be available for the user. The next step is the wireless link, they are working on that and the USB 3 cable will be changed by a radio link. Soon, gamers, today more focused on tethered models, can get the opportunity to enjoy VR far from their PC. Video watchers, now more fans of stand-alone models, could easily step forward to a gamer experience when an equipped PC is available. What is the summary of these two milestones? Smartphone-headset is dead while hybrid-headset has born. VR headset is not more a gadget, VR headset is an independent and first-row device.

Laver Cup 2019

Laver Cup

Laver Cup global VR streaming with the highest video quality using YBVR tech An outstanding immersive experience for tennis fans to enjoy Laver Cup in Virtual Reality. The best VR video live experience will be broadcasted from the Laver Cup tournament: 8K at 60 frames per second video, with instant camera change from the user, who can choose any of the 12 camera positions at the tennis court. The best tennis captured with two 360 degrees cameras close to the benches of the players and two 180 ones at the edges of the court, to follow your team like you were there in the front row or better. Fans will be able also to enjoy tennis from the Director’s Chair, where they can select which view out of 8 cameras they want to enjoy at each moment, with the same choice capability that the Broadcast Director. Laver Cup VR application will be available for Oculus Go (Oculus store) and HTC Vive Focus (Viveport store) from the beginning of the tournament. Highlights of the day, match points and featured immersive content will be available globally. Live matches will be watched from Europe. The five live Laver Cup VR session times are as follows: Friday, September 20: 13:00, Match 1 (singles) f/b Match 2 (singles) Friday, September 20: 19:00, Match 3 (singles) f/b Match 4 (doubles) Saturday, September 21: 13:00, Match 5 (singles) f/b Match 6 (singles) Saturday, September 21: 19:00, Match 7 (singles) f/b Match 8 (doubles) Sunday, September 22: 12:00, Match 9 (doubles) f/b Match 10 (singles), Match 11 (singles), Match 12 (singles) and a Decider, Match 13 (doubles) if points are even. VR Highlights and more content will be available by 24h after the match and can be watched into the Laver Cup VR APP after the event. With 4 different camera feeds, fans will be able to change their viewing positions from each team bench to a spot behind each base line, a seat no money can buy. This VR experience will provide fans with a unique look into what goes on away from the court. From players teaching each other new tricks to team chats, warms ups and games, a VR clip with 2x 4min features will be created (1-week after) that showcases the special nature of the Laver Cup environment from each team’s perspective. The focus here is a look away from the action, into the fresh shift in mindsets of the players from individual to team. Where else can you see two of the greatest tennis players ever sit on the one team and discuss tactics? YBVR technology optimizes production, streaming and delivery of VR video, building amazing VR experiences with the highest quality and adjusted bandwidth requirements. Be immersive!

Music At The Edge

Music VR

Telefonica, Miss Caffeina and YBVR perform a Music VR experience, using Edge Computing technology and Adaptative FOV. Telefónica and Spanish band Miss Caffeina combined music with technology in Music At The Edge, an initiative of Telefónica’s Global Innovation area that allowed over 100 people to live an immersive 360º video music experience. This experience was deployed using Edge Computing technology in Telefonica’s network and YBVR technology for the Virtual Reality experience in Movistar Riders offices in Madrid. Music at the Edge involved streaming a concert by Miss Caffeina recorded in the highest quality 360º video format (8K@60fps) for the musical TV show Sesiones Movistar+, using YBVR technology. YBVR platform used Edge Computing putting the content closer to the users and improving response time for FOV adaptation. This allowed to the users to have the highest video quality using streaming video delivery. As David del Val, Director of Core Innovation at Telefónica, pointed out, “new video formats such as 4K, 8K and videoVR/360° are beginning to become a reality. Telefónica wants to be at the forefront of technology, which means developing new services and video content, and also being prepared to meet the expected demand for these new formats. For this reason, we have begun to transform our network by betting on virtualization and Edge Computing, technology that we have been developing for nearly two years and users have experienced today”. VR users could use instant camera change feature, choosing the camera to watch the experience, then the user could move from the center of the group to any of the other 4 cameras around the singers, without any stop or split in the experience. From the home menu, the user feels at the center of the stage, surrounded by the artists, with 6 songs available to be enjoyed in the VR experience. VR video, evolving sound and instant camera change, offered a stunning experience of immersive music. Next step is to extend this streaming experience to the home, when VR headsets become a popular gadget for entertainment.

The adventure of a tennis VR immersive experience

Nadal Tennis

YBVR has an outstanding expertise of video VR experiences around tennis tournaments. Davis cup in 2018, Australian Open in 2019 and Mutua Madrid Open in 2018 and 2019 are the most important milestones in YBVR’s journey. They are convinced that tennis is a privileged test environment for develop a video VR experience. The size of the court gives a good opportunity to get the best of video VR capabilities, also, the exclusivity of first-row boxes adds an important value to the opportunity to share this immersive experience with a wide group of excluded fans and high skilled public. YBVR installs some 360 and 180 degrees cameras into the court, covering the general overview of the venue and also some first-row positions: close to the net, behind the players, aside the court judges… getting a high quality video source (8K at 60fps). A live production set compounds the content, adding digital and graphic information as the score board, players bio, match analytics, graphic advertisement and other data. Additionally, they insert the TV signal as a giant screen over the horizon, showing close-up images and replays. Tennis fans following the matches from outside of the main court could wear the VR headsets and watch the game into VR. YBVR technology allows experiencing 8K-60fps quality into a conventional VR headset by live streaming, giving an immersive feeling of what is happening in the court. The user can also decide what camera to watch from, in a non-interruptive transition. A map with different camera position is offered to the user to be chosen whenever. Last May, in Mutua Madrid Open 2019 tournament, more than 4,500 people visited the experience. Users could watch some live matches and the highlights of the previous days. Average time of watching was 4,9 minutes per visitor, increased to 7,1 minutes during live streaming. Other outstanding data is that more than 63% of users of this experience were kids and teens, that shows the power of VR to connect with young audiences. But notice that the main power of this technology is to be based on streaming, with bandwidth below 20Mbps per headset. This opens the experience to be enjoyed from home, maybe in a virtual-ticket model or a fan-immersive-channel subscription. We hope to see soon these kind of offerings in the VR world, joining VR high quality (8K/60fps), live events, interactive experience (camera change), data enrichment (TV screen, match analytics, score board, players bio…) and easy to use and access.

SEGITTUR and YBVR explore VR and 5G applications for tourism

Segittur

SEGITTUR has selected Yerba Buena VR (YBVR) to deploy a VR tourism experience over 5G, included in the 5G-EVE project. SEGITTUR (Sociedad Estatal para la Gestión de la Innovación y las Tecnologías Turísticas, S.A.) attached to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism and reporting to the National Department of Tourism, is responsible for promoting innovation (R+D+i) in the Spanish tourism industry, in both the public (new models and channels for the promotion, management and creation of smart destinations and so on) and private sector (support for entrepreneurs, new, sustainable and more competitive business models, export of Spanish technology). 5G EVE is the European 5G validation platform for extensive trials. It is one of three 5G PPP infrastructure projects started on 1st July 2018. The goal is to implement and test advanced 5G infrastructures in Europe. YBVR is developing with SEGITTUR two use cases related with tourism, video VR and 5G. “Immersive tourism” is the first use case, defined to give an immersive experience of a real event through video VR. YBVR technology is used to capture and replay the event and, using streaming over 5G, broadcast the experience to different locations, on live or on demand models. Small spaces, non-accessible places, far-away events… can be captured by VR video to create an immersive experience. Handicap people, potential tourists or new experiences seekers can be the preferred audience for the immersive tourism. “Virtual tickets” is the second use case to be defined. Limited capacity of venues cannot be more a limitation to sell tickets and get more audience. VR video streaming can give a first-row ticket without any numbering limitation. A congress subscription, a basketball seat, a festival entrance, a traditional celebration… could be suitable to become part of this experience, selling virtual tickets for funs from other places or time-restricted followers. SEGITTUR and YBVR collaboration includes a batch of 5G testing trial, metering how 5G technology can improve the feasibility and performance of this use cases. Finally, all these concepts and technologies will be placed in the field on January 2020 into FITUR, the first appointment of the year for the world’s tourism professionals and the leading trade fair for inbound and outbound markets in Latin America.

YBVR selected by NEOTEC funding

NEOTEC

YBVR has been appointed to receive NEOTEC 2018 funds by CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial). CDTI is the Spanish Government office focused on promoting innovation and technological development for enterprises in Spain, depending on Science, Innovation, and Universities Ministry. NEOTEC is a CDTI program with the goal of supporting and empowering companies based on technology, for the development of products or services that require the use of technologies or knowledge developed from the research activity. With € 25 million funding, projects selected can receive up to € 250.000 to support OPEX and amortizations in one or two years. YBVR Europe S.L., based in Madrid, presented the project “360 video optimization for streaming with dynamic FOV adaptation” and was selected, with other 93 companies, to receive funding supported by the NEOTEC program. A detailed description of the project, the marketplace analysis, and future forecast, and the state of the art in this technology was presented to NEOTEC, joining the 5-years business plan with commercial and financial analysis and planning. NEOTEC has a hard selection process and YBVR is very proud to be included in this group of exclusive innovators. Most of these funds will be focused on research and software development to develop and deploy VR video streaming products and solutions for live and on-demand content, to build really immersive experiences based or video and virtual reality. Actually, YBVR projects deployed along this year have confirmed immersive video possibilities in live sports broadcasting over the internet for entertainment, such as Australian Open, last January, or Mutua Madrid Open, last May, with close to 900 hours of viewing time. We appreciate to CDTI and the Spanish Science, Innovation, and Universities Ministry for this appointment and support. We are committed to the evolution of immersive video experiences over the internet with virtual reality, a new way of entertainment, learning, leisure, and news reporting. Subsidized by the CDTI and financed by the Spain National Budget in charge of the application 27.12.467C.74908.