Virtually Perfect: Factors Affecting the Quality of a VR Experience and the need for a VR Content Quality Standard

New virtual reality (VR) capture, gaming and viewing devices are hitting the shelves at an accelerated pace. While this commercial push favors the integration of VR devices into everyday life, the quality of experience is not always up to par: Improperly produced content can generate physical stress and/or interrupt a viewer's suspension of disbelief. Without clear and common standards, it is hard to achieve a consistent product that will meet customer expectations beyond the initial novelty factor. The paper suggests a foundation for a content quality standard, based on the author's experience shooting and analyzing hundreds of 360-video experiences, with criteria for stitching, physical integrity, artifacts, stereoscopic 3D, framing and composition. For each criterion, the paper describes a suggested benchmark, issues to avoid, causes, effects on the viewer, plus preventive and corrective measures.

Published

2016-10

Content type

Original Research

Keywords

VR, 360-video, quality, standards, HMD, Virtual Reality

DOI

10.5594/M001733

ISBN

978-1-61482-957-7