Telefónica Movistar: Virtual Reality Television
An evening of sofa, blanket and movie with our best friend… who is 5,000 km away.
Interactive television is moving towards digitalization in an unstoppable way. With the speed at which virtual reality and augmented reality equipment is evolving and modernizing (there are more and more models on the market, more accessible and cheaper), it is not far off that space barriers will disappear and allow us to enjoy experiences like these.
Television platforms, which are in continuous evolution and struggle to stand out in the market, are looking for ways to offer the user the best possible experience.
We have designed a virtual and augmented reality application that will generate a new television experience, with a more social and participatory audience.
Telefónica Movistar is the largest and oldest telecommunications giant in Spain and is present in many countries.
Telefónica wanted to show during Mobile World Congress 2018 the pilot of a project with the experience of watching Movistar multimedia content through virtual reality, taking another step towards what the television of the future would be like.
For this, it was required to develop an application, in which in the same session there were different users, who could share the same experience and interact with each other. In addition, the challenge was to create a platform that supports different devices, especially mobile devices, where there was an intense work to create graphics of the desired quality.
The process
In order to carry out this pilot, Plain Concepts’ Design and Research teams have joined forces to create a platform that can be used on different media and with different devices.
A space was developed for users to access, with public and private rooms in which there was total synchronization of playback and communication by voice and expressions; lighting was controlled, and users could create and customize avatars, with a panel with tweets filtered for the content being viewed at that moment and allowing integration with Facebook.
In addition, a Spectator App had to be created, where an administrator could interact with all the visitors giving the pertinent indications for the use of the platform. This last point was of vital importance to show the demo at the MWC.
Results
- A platform fully compatible with the main virtual reality platforms and devices of the moment such as Oculus Rift, Microsoft Mixed Reality, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and Cardboard.
- Fully immersive experience, with highly realistic environments, in which, in addition, the viewer could consume advertising and additional content related to the content viewed in a closer and interactive way, thanks to virtual reality.
We are ready for new challenges
