Oculus Cinema
| Oculus Cinema | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Virtual reality media player |
| Industry | Virtual reality |
| Developer | Oculus VR |
| Operating System | Android (Gear VR), Oculus PC (Rift) |
| Supported Devices | Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift |
| Release Date | 2014 |
Oculus Cinema was a virtual reality media application developed by Oculus VR that placed the user inside a simulated movie theater to watch 2D and 3D video on a large virtual screen. It shipped in 2014 as one of the first applications built by Oculus for the Samsung Gear VR mobile headset, and a version was planned for the consumer Oculus Rift. The app let the wearer choose between several theater environments and play their own video files on a cinema-sized screen, with a networked mode in which several people could watch the same video together as avatars.[1][2]
Oculus Cinema was effectively superseded by Oculus Video, which the company described as a relaunch of Oculus Cinema when it was announced in September 2015. Oculus Video added a storefront for renting and buying Hollywood films inside the same kind of 360-degree virtual theater. Both apps were retired as Oculus wound down its mobile and media-playback products: movie rentals on the Rift ended in 2018, and the Gear VR apps stopped being available for download in 2020.[3][4][5]
Function
The app reproduced a cinema interior in virtual reality. The user sat in a virtual auditorium and looked toward a screen sized like a real cinema screen, which produced the sensation of watching the content on a much larger display than the headset's physical panels.[2] Several theater environments were offered, and the user could load their own files rather than only streaming provided content. Oculus's announcement for the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition described it plainly: "Oculus Cinema is a virtual movie theater, where you can playback your favorite 2D and 3D movies in a variety of theater environments."[1]
On the Samsung Gear VR, the app rendered onto the Quad HD AMOLED display of the attached Samsung Galaxy phone, so the perceived screen quality depended on the phone's panel and the source video. Guidance for the Oculus Rift developer kits recommended encoding 2D files at 720p with a bitrate of roughly 5 Mbit/s for playback in the cinema.[6]
Social and networked viewing
A defining feature of Oculus Cinema was a multi-user mode. According to the description carried in contemporary coverage, "Oculus Cinema will also have a networked mode, in which multiple users can watch the same video in the same virtual space, seeing each other as avatars and being able to interact and talk to one another while watching the video."[2] In August 2015 the company detailed an update that let friends watch films at the same time and see one another seated next to them in the same virtual cinema.[7]
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, speaking to Road to VR, said the intent was to make Oculus Cinema "a facsimile of the real thing, and that includes hanging out with buddies."[7] The first version of the shared experience required the participants to be physically in the same room. Luckey said further social features were planned for the following months, including avatars and remote multiplayer so that users would not need to be in the same location.[7] At that point the app was available on the Samsung Gear VR and was set to launch with the consumer Oculus Rift when it reached stores in 2016.[7]
History
Watching ordinary 2D and 3D video inside a virtual theater was one of the earliest demonstrated uses of the Oculus Rift developer hardware, alongside third-party "VR cinema" applications.[6] Oculus Cinema became a first-party app for the platform.
On September 3, 2014, Oculus announced the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition, a mobile headset created by Samsung and powered by Oculus that used the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as its display and processor. The Innovator Edition launched with four experiences built by Oculus: Oculus Home, Oculus Cinema, Oculus 360 Videos, and Oculus 360 Photos.[1] Oculus Cinema was therefore one of the launch applications for Oculus's first shipping mobile VR platform.
A version of Oculus Cinema was also intended for the consumer Oculus Rift. Coverage in 2015 described the app as already available on the Samsung Gear VR and planned to launch with the consumer Rift in 2016.[7]
Relaunch as Oculus Video
At the Oculus Connect 2 developer conference on September 24, 2015, Oculus and Samsung unveiled a 99-dollar consumer Samsung Gear VR and announced Oculus Video, which The Hollywood Reporter described as "a relaunch of Oculus Cinema." Oculus Video put the viewer in a 360-degree virtual theater where they could watch movies and other content and rent or purchase titles.[3] The company announced content partnerships with Fox and Lionsgate, along with commitments from other providers including Twitch and Vimeo.[3]
The transition meant the Oculus Cinema brand was largely folded into Oculus Video, which combined the virtual-theater playback of the original app with a video-on-demand storefront.
The following table summarizes the main milestones.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 3, 2014 | Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition announced; Oculus Cinema ships as one of four Oculus-built launch apps.[1] |
| August 6, 2015 | Oculus details a social "watch together" update for Oculus Cinema; remote multiplayer and avatars described as planned.[7] |
| September 24, 2015 | Oculus Video announced at Oculus Connect 2 as a relaunch of Oculus Cinema, with a movie store and a 99-dollar consumer Gear VR.[3] |
| March 2016 | Consumer Oculus Rift ships; Oculus Cinema was planned for launch on the Rift.[7] |
| October 22, 2018 | Oculus shuts down movie rentals and purchases through Oculus Video on the Oculus Rift; access to bought or rented titles ends November 20, 2018.[4] |
| March 31, 2020 | Oculus Video and Oculus 360 Photos can no longer be downloaded on Samsung Gear VR; rented and purchased films become unavailable there.[5] |
Relationship to VR and AR
Oculus Cinema is part of the early history of media playback in virtual reality, where a head-mounted display is used to present flat or stereoscopic video on a virtual screen that appears far larger than any physical television. Because the headset blocks out the surroundings and fills the user's field of view, a simulated cinema can make modest source video feel like a large-screen presentation, which made "watch movies in VR" one of the first consumer-facing pitches for headsets like the Samsung Gear VR and the Oculus Rift.[2][1]
The app also demonstrated several ideas that recur across VR media and social software. It used a stereoscopic presentation so that 3D films could be shown with separate left- and right-eye images, and it offered selectable virtual environments rather than a single fixed room.[1] Its networked mode, in which remote participants appear as avatars in a shared virtual space and can talk while watching the same content, is an early example of social co-viewing in VR, a pattern later expanded by dedicated social and watch-party applications.[2][7]
Oculus Cinema's successor, Oculus Video, extended the concept toward licensed distribution by adding studio partnerships and a rent-or-buy storefront inside the virtual theater, which tied VR media playback to the broader effort by Oculus and its partners to bring film and 360-degree video to headsets.[3]
Current status
Oculus Cinema and its successor Oculus Video are discontinued, and the platforms they ran on have been retired.
On October 22, 2018, Oculus announced that it was shutting down movie rentals and purchases through the Oculus Video app on the Oculus Rift, with access to any purchased or rented movies ending on November 20, 2018. Oculus said the Rift was used primarily for gaming and that its mobile headsets, the Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR, would for the time being keep access to video on demand, including purchases and rentals; the company said it would reimburse customers who had bought videos through the Rift app.[4]
The mobile side was wound down in 2020. As of March 31, 2020, the Oculus Video and Oculus 360 Photos apps could no longer be downloaded on the Samsung Gear VR; users who already had them installed could keep using them, but rented and purchased films were no longer available, and the company offered store credit equal to the cost of any titles previously bought. Oculus also stated that from September 15, 2020 developers could no longer support Gear VR with new apps released to the store.[5] With the end of the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go product lines, the cinema and video apps tied to them are no longer distributed.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Introducing the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition". 2014-09-03. https://www.meta.com/blog/introducing-the-samsung-gear-vr-innovator-edition/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Oculus Rift". 2026-05-01. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_Rift.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Oculus Connect: 99-Dollar Samsung Gear VR Unveiled; Fox, Lionsgate Content Partnerships Unveiled". 2015-09-24. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oculus-connect-99-samsung-gear-826964/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Oculus Shut Down Movie Purchases and Rentals on Rift Today". 2018-10-22. https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-shut-movie-purchases-rentals-rift-today/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Facebook Ends Samsung Gear VR Software Updates, 360 Video Downloads and Films". 2020-03-31. https://www.uploadvr.com/samsung-gear-vr-updates-end/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "How to Watch DVD Movies on Oculus Rift Developers Kit DK2". 2015-06-01. https://www.easefab.com/ripping-dvd/play-dvd-on-oculus-rift-dk2.html.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 "Oculus Cinema will let friends watch movies together". 2015-08-06. https://www.engadget.com/2015-08-06-oculus-cinema-watch-movies-together.html.