360 8K Viewport-Independent VR

Abstract

Over the past few years 360 virtual reality (VR) has been deployed using different techniques. Viewport-independent technology has been used on 4K content for delivery to 4K-capable head-mounted displays (HMDs) and smartphone devices, resulting in a disappointing experience. The alternative is using viewport-dependent technology with 8K content on 4K-capable HMDs and smartphones devices, which enables a good experience, but with complexities and limitations in terms of the integration into existing over-the-top (OTT) workflows. The 8K viewport-independent technology presented uses off-the-shelf encoding techniques to compress 8K 360 VR content as a single file and to distribute it in a common media application framework (CMAF) low-latency Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) mode to 8K-capable devices such as the Oculus Quest 2 or Galaxy S20. This article presents an end-to-end 8K VR workflow, which is entirely cloud-based and capable of delivering high-quality 8K VR digital rights management (DRM)-protected content compared with 4K content on different devices. We present the initial results of the trial performed by the VR Study Group of the Streaming Video Alliance (SVA) in collaboration with the VR Industry Forum (VRIF), where 8K VR content was encoded and streamed on different very-high-speed (fiber and data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS)) networks.