Monday, September 28, 2015
CNN is going to live stream the Democratic debates in virtual reality
The Verge: On October 13th, CNN will live stream the US Democratic presidential debate in virtual reality. Anyone with a Samsung Gear VR headset will be able to drop in via VR streaming company NextVR's portal in the Oculus store. CNN says viewers will get a "front-row seat" from the perspective of an audience member, with the immersive stream allowing people to "hold a gaze on a particular candidate, catch off-screen interactions, and more."
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Just from the article's title I feel like this idea is a little ridiculous. Is anyone that significantly obsessed with the political debates that they would feel the need to pay big money to stream it in virtual reality? Virtual reality, to me, appears to hold favor more with gaming and imaginative worlds than real life situations. The article mentioned a virtual reality soccer game, which I can personally understand more than I do a debate. It would be awesome to have a front seat experience at a hockey game, and pay $99 dollars for the whole thing instead of spending hundreds to go to one show. At the same time, when you are paying those hundreds of dollars, you are getting the experience of watching with hundreds of other people as well as the game, where if you're in virtual reality you are alone watching a game, which is rather isolating.
The streaming of the debate via virtual reality reminds me of when, in my us history class, when people used to come out and watch the candidates talk because they had nothing better to do and that was like their tv. Since the age of technology started, less people started showing up in person and instead watched it stream on the tv either because they lived to far or there was no room. This brought everyone closer to the debates, but it lost the personal touch of actually being in the same room. With the virtual reality, now it can be possible to watch from your home and to be there in person which is really cool. The camera’s they set up to stream the virtual reality can give you angles you never saw before, like the article says, and I can just imagine in the future there being a robot that you can control and move around so it feels like you’re walking around in the area.
I think it is so cool that Virtual Reality has come to a point where we can broadcast it live and people can watch events in virtual reality, even if it is really low quality. I guess the problem is that very few people have the ability to watch the broadcast because virtual reality headpieces are not super common…yet. I say yet because if we already have the ability to successfully broadcast television in VR then in a matter of years we should be able to do it really well. Imagine what football games would be like if you could watch them in virtual reality. Imagine what movies would be like!! I think there are a lot of possibilities for VR and it will not be long until VR is a standard. However VR does isolate individuals since everyone is wearing their own headpieces and can’t really interact with others watching the same thing. I also can forsee VR taking the same path of 3D, big hype, a lot of technological advances and then it pitters away. I hope this does not happen to virtual reality
I think it is so cool that Virtual Reality has come to a point where we can broadcast it live and people can watch events in virtual reality, even if it is really low quality. I guess the problem is that very few people have the ability to watch the broadcast because virtual reality headpieces are not super common…yet. I say yet because if we already have the ability to successfully broadcast television in VR then in a matter of years we should be able to do it really well. Imagine what football games would be like if you could watch them in virtual reality. Imagine what movies would be like!! I think there are a lot of possibilities for VR and it will not be long until VR is a standard. However VR does isolate individuals since everyone is wearing their own headpieces and can’t really interact with others watching the same thing. I also can forsee VR taking the same path of 3D, big hype, a lot of technological advances and then it pitters away. I hope this does not happen to virtual reality
Things we need more of in politics: Critical thinking, well thought-out analysis, and moderators who ask challenging, relevant questions.
Things we need less of in politics: Distracting gimmicks like this.
It's pretty well documented that I'm kind of a curmudgeon, but I really don't see how broadcasting in VR has any benefit to the debate other than the fact that it's shiny and new. CNN is all about obscuring the fact that they aren't actual journalists with fancy presentations and sound bytes, and this feels to me like more of the same. Additionally, it seems as though the ability for broadcasters to manipulate the optics of the debate only increases when you give a viewer VR. While TV can manipulate things like the camera angle and frame to make a candidate seem more or less imposing, clear, etc. VR would open up the potential for viewer manipulation in drastically more advanced ways.
It's possible that I'm wrong, and that introducing a gimmick like VR would make watching debates more fun, which would encourage more people to participate further in their government, but at what point does this all become some sort of blatant entertainment event and not a way to get to know the candidates better?
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