Monthly Archives: July 2017

If, hypothetically, Georgia and Florida went to war, which state would win? That was one of the questions posed to actress Carrie Preston in the first episode of Conundrums, Slates new virtual reality Facebook Live talk show that launched Thursday.

Preston and host Dan Kois, Slates culture editor, were presented as legless avatars as the show is produced using Facebooks VR app Spaces, which was launched earlier this year as a way for Oculus Rift users to interact with each other as avatars. Facebook this week announced that it was adding a livestreaming feature to Spaces, and Slate says it is the first outlet to utilize this platform in this way.

Kois and Preston began their conversation outside of a Brooklyn-based brewery thats sponsoring the show before using the magic of virtual reality to transport themselves to Jekyll Island, Georgia one of Prestons favorite places in her home state. Hey, thats Driftwood Beach over there, she said as the pair arrived on a boardwalk.

The show was streamed from the perspective of a third avatar, a Slate producer, who controlled the locations and camera angles and also tried to help Preston when she had trouble operating some of the Spaces functionality.

Preston first answered the question of whether she preferred peach pie or peach cobbler (cobbler, she said). The conversation then turned to the important matter of who would win a Florida-Georgia War, but before she could answer the Facebook Live feed cut out. (Side note: I insist that any such war should be called The Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.)

Slate was able to resume the broadcast a few minutes later in a new video I was skinnydipping, sorry Im back now, Preston joked as the show came back but the technical difficulties underscored the experimental nature of the show.

In fact, Slates first attempt at broadcasting the show cut out about a minute and a half in and they had to continue the broadcast in a new stream.

For Slate, this is a relatively low-risk way for the online publisher to dip its toes in the VR waters. Speaking to Digiday in May, Slate product head David Stern said the company was taking lessons from its successful podcasts and trying to implement them with VR. That meant focusing on conversations and publishing on a regular schedule. Podcasts taught us, you got to create that habit, Stern said.

The conundrum conceit is actually one that originated from its podcasts. On our Gabfest podcasts, weve been using conundrums to ask those really tough questions, Kois said on the show. Questions like: If one set of animals was going to all band together to eliminate humans forever, would it be dolphins or bees?

Slate is considering the show an experiment, but its going to try to continue to ask guests those wacky questions on a weekly basis while also finding ways to build an audience (and eventually monetize it).

And as Kois and Preston finished their interview by drinking virtual beers, Kois called the first episode an insane adventure that we have set forth on that has in many ways worked and in many ways been a hilarious disaster.

View post:

Slate's first virtual-reality talk show was a hilarious disaster - Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard

Slate is launching a new weekly Facebook Live show, with a twist: Conundrums is being produced entirely in virtual reality, with actors and other celebrities joining Slate Culture Editor Dan Kois in the virtual world with the help of more-or-less lifelike avatars.

First up Thursday is Carrie Preston, who is known for her roles in True Blood and The Good Wife. Kois will spend some 25 minutes quizzing her on a series of conundrums. Is it better to have loved and lost, or not loved at all? Should one fight one horse-sized duck, or 100 duck-sized horses?

Preston will have one minute for each of these questions, and the Facebook Live audience will be able to chime in with real-time comments. Oh, and there may be virtual beer drinking in a nod to series sponsor Sixpoint Brewery.

Conundrums is the first professionally-produced Facebook Live show of its kind to make use of Facebooks social VR app Spaces as a production environment. Facebook officially launched Facebook Live streaming for Spaces Wednesday, initially billing it as a way for owners of the companys Oculus Rift headset to reach more of their friends on Facebook, even if these friends dont own VR headsets yet.

Slate editor in chief Julia Turner told Variety this week that the publisher had been thinking about using VR for a live show for some time. Weve been looking at VR as a medium for journalism for the past several years, she said. However, most VR journalism is focused on empathy-inducing documentaries, something that didnt quite gel with Slates opinion-focused brand.

Instead, Slate was looking to do something closer to what it has done in the podcasting space, said Slate Director of Product David Stern. What you get in VR is in many ways very similar to what you get in podcasts, he said, arguing that both mediums could offer a direct and immediate connection to interviewers and their guests.

Initially, Slate was toying with the idea of building its own VR-based video production environment. But when Facebook first previewed Spaces last year, the team quickly realized that this would be a much better option.

Of course, one could conceivably also produce a show like Conundrum with a Skype or Facetime chat. But Turner argued that the result wouldnt be the same without VR. It creates a kind of intimacy that feels very different from a video call, she said. It feels like you are in a new space together.

Facebook first introduced Spaces as a way for up to three friends to meet up with the help of their avatars in VR in April. Spaces users can look at videos together, teleport to 3D spaces, take selfies of their avatars and even scribble with the help of virtual pens.

Kois will make use of some of those features to keep his guests on their toes, and Turner said that the medium itself is supposed to keep the show playful and fun as well: VR brings out the kid in everyone.

See the article here:

Slate Launches Weekly Facebook Live Talk Show Produced in Virtual Reality (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety

Look Ma, no hands: BMX street biker Chad Kerley soaring to a gold medal during the 2013 X Games.

Now you'll be able to see BMX street stud Chad Kerley flip, twist and spin all over your head in virtual reality.

ESPN willstreampart of its X Games in VR for the first time starting Thursday. The sports network is teaming up with Samsung to show the event in Minneapolis using 360-degree cameras to 48 countries across the globe.

Fans can catch the BMX Street, Skateboard Vert and Skateboard Street Amateurs competitions using the Gear VR headset.

The sport network's popular extreme sporting event is the latest to attempt reaching a new audience using VR. Last season, the NBA became the first pro sports league to broadcast weekly games in VR. Meanwhile, Intel is becoming a major VR player by not onlystreamingthis year's Final Four in virtual reality, but also weeklyMajor League Baseball games. Additionally, Intel says it will broadcast 16 events in VR during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

As for ESPN, X Games executive Tim Reed said in a statement that the two-decade-old action sports competition has always been "a laboratory for innovation and progression," including placing helmet cams on bikers and skateboarders.

"We are always pushing to create new and better ways for fans to experience and interact," he said.

Link:

ESPN to show X Games in virtual reality - CNET - CNET