Although exciting, we don’t have the vocabulary for talking about VR, yet we must ensure it works across multiple devices and delivers what consumers expect.
For Sony Pictures Entertainment Chief Technology Officer Spencer Stephens, it’s an exciting time of change. “There’s a lot that’s in flux and we’re trying to figure out how to do it, especially with virtual reality,” he says.
“VR is incredibly interesting, but we don’t really have a vocabulary for talking about it. I think [we need] to define the vocabulary and find the issues.”
“We have to figure out ways to deliver the absolute best consumer experience based upon the available platform” - Spencer Stephens
Stephens leads the Sony studio’s Technology Development group, working on technology innovation and application.
The group’s latest challenge has been building the workflow that adds HDR to the 4K UHD content the studio has been offering since 2013.
As part of last year’s IBC Conference session, ‘CTO Strategic Roadmap: The Technologists’ View’, he joined an international panel of experts addressing the challenges of this new era in broadcast and media.
VR ratings
For instance, he asks if there needs to be a motion sickness rating system for VR content.
“Some people are extremely susceptible to what we call ‘simulator sickness,’ a term coined to describe people who get motion sickness in simulators, but don’t get it in real life.
”To some extent, that’s also related to haptic feedback, if your body is moving in a manner that’s consistent with what you’re seeing. There’s plenty of work to be done on that.”
Platform production
With various VR viewing devices now on the market, Stephens points out that additional challenges surround VR content delivery.
“We need to find a way to deliver VR content for the scope of devices. On one end of the spectrum we have Playstation VR, and at the other, Google Cardboard apps.
“I’m not suggesting standardisation, but from a production point of view, we have to keep in mind that we have these very different formats,” he adds. “We have to figure out ways to deliver the absolute best consumer experience based upon the available platform.”
Before his current role at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Stephens worked as a technologist for Warner Bros. and before that he built and ran the digital production group at Walt Disney Television Animation.
Fast-moving VR
Asked what change he would expect in the coming year, Stephens says, “With VR, everything is moving so fast; I would expect to see more complete [production systems] and possibly fewer of them.
“We may reach a point where the huge increase in available cameras trails off a bit. From our point of view, it’s the complete system that we’re interested in.
“We don’t want to have to figure out how to stitch together the output from each individual camera. We are seeing examples of that becoming part of [the systems]. It should not be a manual process.”
PROFILE
Spencer Stephens
Chief Technology Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Region: USA
As CTO at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Spencer Stephens leads the studio’s Technology Development group working on technology innovation and application.
The group’s role touches on every part of the path from the on-set technology including cameras and lens, through post-production and mastering to the standards used to deliver content and provide a full consumer experience such as new standards in Extras interactivity.
The group’s latest challenge has been building the workflow that adds HDR to the 4K UHD content the studio has been offering since 2013.
Previously, Spencer worked as a technologist for Warner Bros. and before that built and ran the digital production group at Walt Disney Television Animation.
Spencer started in data communications as system engineer at the inception of the computer network industry.
He has a BSc in physics from the University of Sussex and a masters in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.
This interview was conducted for IBC2016
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