NBC’s “Today Show” provided online users live, interactive, 360-degree video images of its set at the Olympics Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, using technology from Calgary, Alberta-based Immersive Media.
Catherine Captain, VP of marketing for the MSNBC Digital Network, said the idea was to allow Web visitors to “experience one of the biggest events of the year in a very personal way.”
During the games, TODAYshow.com allowed online viewers to “visit” the “Today Show” set on Vancouver’s Grouse Mountain and experience the Olympic set from the same perspective as the on-air hosts. For two days (Feb. 16 and 17) TODAYshow.com offered a live video stream from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. (EST).
Visitors to TODAYshow.com saw a single, live video stream that alternated between two 360-degree cameras. One live stream provided viewers with interior views of the set in Vancouver, and the other live stream captured the action outside the Grouse Mountain studio. In addition to the live streams, select segments were made available on TODAYshow.com following each broadcast.
To accomplish the feat, TODAYshow.com used Immersive Media’s new imLIVE technology, which allows viewers to see what's happening in and around the set in Vancouver from their computers. Immersive Media’s technology was also used online during the Grammy Awards red carpet telecasts.
