Sky: where Middle-earth and Silicon Valley collide
I love working at Sky. It’s fast, down to earth and obsessed with making sure ordinary customers’ lives feel special and thrilling. It’s also constantly experimenting. Tonight’s demo of ground-breaking technology at tonight’s premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is typical of the type of thing we do.
You may not know, but one of the many ways Sky stays one step ahead is by making investments in start-up companies and tapping into innovation from tech hot spots like Silicon Valley. One of those start-ups is an incredible company called Jaunt who have developed cinematic Virtual Reality and I’m the lucky Sky person who attends the quarterly board meetings in California (I’m actually off there tomorrow). The Jaunt guys are totally world class. Funny, curious, brainy but modest, they are an absolute joy to know. Sky and a bunch of other companies were blown away when we first saw what they invented, and we are backing them to introduce a whole new way of experiencing TV. Check them out on Twitter at @JauntVR and you’ll see what I mean.
If you’ve never experienced cinematic Virtual Reality let me fill you in. You put on a pair of goggles and see and hear TV in front of you. Turn to the right, you will see new images, as if you are right in the middle of the action. And it’s like that all around you, 360 degrees. There’s also directional sound, so you will hear someone call out behind you and you will naturally turn round to see who said it. It is completely and utterly incredible.
Jaunt have invented a camera to film this, software to make all the images smooth, software to edit it, and a player to watch it on. So you will soon be able to load up the Jaunt player onto your mobile phone, for instance, and download shows, sporting events, concerts, tonnes of stuff. All you’ll need to do is to slot that phone into a pair of goggles (such as the Google Cardboard goggles) and experience it for yourself. Or you can use Virtual Reality goggles such as Facebook’s Oculus Rift.
Jaunt have already shot an amazing concert with icon Sir Paul McCartney at the Candlestick Stadium in San Francisco, as well as Sky Sports boxing footage and Sky 1’s Got To Dance, amongst a whole catalogue of shows. We’ve also jointly done test shoots on the ridiculous comedy Trollied and the much-anticipated Sky Atlantic epic drama Fortitude.
The latest cinematic VR production takes thing up a notch or two. Using the strength of our relationships with studio partners, we were able to put a call into our great friends at Warner Brothers to get Jaunt exclusive access to The Hobbit set in New Zealand. As a result, we’ve collectively been able to work together to create a 90second clip of Middle-earth from the film, all in jaw dropping cinematic VR.
The cinematic VR footage – which was shot in New Zealand, edited in California, and will be showcased in London tonight – has been turned around in less than a week, which is some effort from all involved. Those lucky enough to attend the Sky Movies/Warner Brothers premiere of The Hobbit in the West End tonight will be able to experience Middle-earth themselves. And I’m delighted to say that the press guys have told me (as the most Hobbitty looking person at Sky) to stand wearing the goggles for a photo to accompany this blog. If I don’t look a complete numpty I will be hugely disappointed.
As well as having the set footage, we are also working with Jaunt to put the high-tech cameras on the red carpet of the main world premiere, which is happening simultaneously with the Sky event, also in Leicester Square. This means we can not only transport fans to The Hobbit set itself, but also put them into the heart of the film’s premiere, to enjoy all the glitz and glamour of the event.
The relationship between Sky and Jaunt is mutually beneficial. Our investment means we can learn more about the technology directly from the pioneers driving it, ensuring we remain at the cutting edge of innovation in entertainment. And for Jaunt they can use our experience at bringing new technologies to mainstream markets to help them get critical mass, as well as offering lots of interesting content opportunities. We do this either through our own commissions and production, or by helping introduce them to our content partners, as we’ve done on this occasion with Warner Brothers. When we partner with startups we are focused on understanding how we can work with them to introduce new technologies and fresh thinking into Sky while at the same time using our skills and expertise to take their businesses forward at the same time.
So that’s how this week starts for me. Monday: whacking on a pair of cinematic VR goggles and pretending I’m in Middle-earth; Tuesday off to San Francisco to meet the Willy Wonka geniuses at Jaunt to hear about the latest developments.
If you want to follow the Jaunt guys, have a look on social media under JauntVR and see for yourself how amazing our entertainment future is going to be.
