The Virtual Reality Industry Forum (VRIF) announced the availability of its first set of Virtual Reality (VR) Industry Guidelines at CES 2018. The guidelines include topics relevant for VR content production, distribution, security and consumption. VRIF, of which Fraunhofer IIS is a charter member, presented the new guidelines in a two-hour masterclass at CES 2018, where it also outlined a 2018 roadmap and presented VR demos, including Fraunhofer’s Immersive Audio and tiled media streaming demos based on ISO MPEG’s Omnidirectional Media Format (OMAF). Slides of the CES masterclass are available here: http://www.vr-if.org/news/http-www-vr-if-org-events-vrif-master-class-at-ces-2018/
The initial release of the VRIF Guidelines focuses on the delivery ecosystem of 360° video with three degrees of freedom (3DOF) and incorporates, among other aspects, the documentation of cross-industry interoperability points based on MPEG’s OMAF. Part of OMAF and VRIF’s only audio codec specified in the 3D Audio Baseline media profile is the MPEG-H 3D Audio system, which has been substantially developed by Fraunhofer IIS. In collaboration with the French research institute b<>com, Fraunhofer showcased the very first VR experiences based on aspects of the draft version of the VRIF guidelines at IBC 2017.
VRIF was launched at CES 2017 and currently includes more than 40 member organizations from industries such as movies, television, mobile, broadcast and interactive gaming, comprising content creators, content distributors, consumer electronics manufacturers, professional equipment manufacturers and technology companies. The Forum was founded to increase the widespread availability of high-quality audiovisual VR experiences for the benefit of consumers; membership is open to all parties that support this mission. VRIF relies on Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) to develop relevant standards, and will seek to establish liaisons with such SDOs.
Header image © Fraunhofer IIS/Viaframe