MIPTV 2017 Preview: Gregg Bywalski, CEO, XTreme Video

This year’s MIPTV conference will see a plethora of discussions, keynotes and panels dissecting, predicting and speculation about the potential of VR in mainstream implementation for the consumer market. Despite the promotion and hype, there is truth to the words often used to describe it: revolutionary, innovative and completely immersive. After the smartphone, no other recent innovation to the way we experience content has opened as many creative, boundary-pushing opportunities as VR. However, investor enthusiasm for the category still faces major hurdles before mass market adoption can become a reality.

VR producers must think in terms of immersive visual narratives – content that not only engages the viewer but envelops him and elicits his participation. This presents excellent monetization opportunities for the content not possible on traditional platforms – back-screen “deadspace” in 180 degree shoots; customized narration such as that used by Next VR for example in its live sports casts, in which sports casters speak directly to VR viewers as to how to adjust their hardware and synchronize sports scores into the blanks spaces behind their fields of view. Effective leverage of these opportunities requires POV-driven filmography, combined with branded viewership experiences that complement – not interrupt – the VR experience.

At the same time, the spread of VR devices is accelerating faster than the content - leaving a big opportunity for creators to fill the void. Even with the recent, public hiccups at Magic Leap, it’s not smart to discount them or other hardware providers quite yet. With today’s quick fire pace of technological innovations, I’m willing to practice some patience. And Google Cardboard, by far one of the cheapest and most accessible ways to experience VR, recently announced they’ve shipped more than 10 million units to eager audiences across the globe. We can see the rise of affordable VR technologies for creators from leading camera manufacturers and innovative collaborations of emerging brands like Izugar and Zcam releasing their new 360 rig using the new Zcam 4K MFT cameras.

As Ben Smith, Senior Vice President of Experience, Hulu stated on this blog, “VR has the potential to completely shake up the television viewing experience, offering the opportunity for television fans everywhere to fully immerse themselves in completely new worlds.” While more traditional spaces like TV will have further to go to create a viable, scalable VR spaces (although HBO and Cartoon Network have created great big-budget projects), audiences are steering towards VR videos on YouTube and other digital streaming platforms. Skydiving, surfing and other adventure videos are often the top viewed VR and 360 degree videos out there, and it’s not hard to understand why. VR is a conduit for viewers to live out their most extreme (and extremely dangerous) dreams.

VR experiences also function to create intimate connections between fans and creators. A video from GoPro’s Bombsquad, their popular crew of skydivers, sucks viewers into the crisp, thin air, thousands of feet above their living room. World Surf League’s series of VR surf experiences give kids growing up in Iowa who’ve never seen a beach in their life directly into the massive, crashing barrels in Tahiti with elite surfer C.J. Hobgood. Los Angeles-based skater Chris Chann and his friends share their cruise through Venice Beach and various “secret locations” with hundreds of thousands of social media fans. The dividends for the creators, in the form of connection and engagement with fans, are vast. Global brands, such as Audi, are excited to capture the VR “cool factor” and enter into content partnerships with digital creators and networks.

Joe Nilsson, VP Commercial of XTreme Video, will be speaking at the MIPTV conference session “Unleashing Your Senses with VR Experience,” on Wednesday, April 5th.