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The Idea
At MediaLab, one of our missions is to use new technologies to transmit information to you in a different way. When we discovered Facebook Spaces, we thought that it could be a way to send information to the younger generation. Avatars, a possibility to "enhance" the set's decor with 360° video at any time... there was undoubtedly a potential to test.
And we tested it to the end. To the end because Facebook Spaces no longer exists today and will soon be replaced by Facebook Horizon (in 2020).
This experimentation resulted in a series of 4 videos for young people called "Au coeur de..." ».
Below, we would like to present the most accomplished subject of this experimentation with Facebook Spaces. The journalists went so far as to use the full potential of the tool and even the green background inlay to make their avatars travel even better.
Take a look, don't hesitate to give your opinion and read below, the genesis of the experiment!
The tool
Facebook Spaces is the possibility to see your "friends" in avatar through a virtual reality helmet. You own a computer with a virtual helmet? The platform linked to your helmet offers you Facebook Spaces? Then you can meet friends in a virtual environment. You can walk around in a 360° photo, a 360° video or a totally computer-generated decor in 3D. You are at home but elsewhere. That's the spirit of virtual reality.
You have an RV helmet over your eyes, joysticks in your hands and sensors that determine the space in which you can move around so you don't bump into everything in "real life".
Don't hesitate to take a look at this video that explains the principle.
What exactly is Facebook Spaces?
360° in 16/9th
Now that you see the concept, I'll explain how we thought about using it: Facebook Spaces was the basis for us to make a tray on which one or two journalists will tell you, decipher and take you to see how information is made.
For you, spectators, no need for virtual reality headphones, the final product is available in 16/9. Why is this? Simply because not everyone has a VR helmet. But that shouldn't prevent us from using these new narration technologies. Later on we might give you an appointment directly in these 360° environments, who knows?
Facebook Spaces allows you to make a 16/9th video in a 360° setting. The avatar or avatars in the platform have a virtual smartphone to film everything that happens in virtual reality. But I will explain this in more detail. Before, I have to explain to you what this virtual environment can be used for. This will allow you to understand how we, as journalists, see a potential for transmitting information through this platform.
We therefore integrate "sets" with our own photos or 360° videos. This seems interesting to us to take the public anywhere: National Assembly, Festivals, Speeches of presidents, Sports events, etc... We can also broadcast 16:9 videos which are displayed like a screen in the 360° scenery. We can be up to 4 in the set. It is then possible to invite people as speakers.
We can also draw in 3D in the decor. This can help for a module where we give numbers. But there can also be a "game" of presenter that could give light in drawing. In short, the virtual platform is full of tools whose mix must be harmonized so that everything is told in a fluid and understandable way.
With all these ideas in mind, we went to see two journalists from the editorial staff who had to create new formats for France tv Education. We presented the concept to them. We invited them to immerse themselves in the virtual platform so that they could feel the possibility or not to use this technology.
They agreed to try the adventure!
The production
The journalists Jean-François Monier and Matthias Second proposed a theme: Following the genesis of a report until its broadcast. They thought about a scenario. We accompanied them according to our experience, feasibility, compatibility with the virtual platform.
We shot the first tests with the agreement of the editorial staff and France tv Education. The idea was to create a mix between 360° videos and 16:9 videos to vary the formats. So we followed a report that we filmed in 16/9 and in 360°. The 360° video installed us in the real setting with the atmosphere of the shooting. The 16/9 video was intended to explain the making of a news shoot.
Then we integrated these videos in the virtual platform and Jean-François Monier and Matthias Second became Jeff and Matt to make the first concrete tests under virtual helmets.
We encountered some technical difficulties with Facebook Spaces. The platform is in Beta version. This means that it is not stable and that technicians are working on it almost all the time to make it evolve and improve it. On the user side, this causes bugs and "crashes" on a regular basis. In spite of this, we have moved on to the production of the module.
The 1pm news team welcomed us.
Jean-François Monier and Matthias Second showed the tests to the editorial staff who validated the experience. The team of the 1:00 pm newspaper thus accepted that we come with our equipment to film them all morning until the newspaper itself. For the final module, the choice went to 360° "set videos". No 16/9 displayed in the virtual reality space as in the first test.
So one Monday morning we shot in real conditions and in 360°. First step : the editorial conference where we decided which reports would make up the newspaper at 1pm. Then the steps follow one after the other: the head of department who goes to see the journalist on duty so that she can investigate and leave to do an interview, the team who will film etc... We take the sound on a dedicated zoom camera. We will add it to the video by synchronizing it to the post-production.
So far, nothing very complicated. Back from shooting we obviously have to reformat the 360° videos since they are actually taken by two cameras that have an angle a little larger than 180°. Then we purify to keep only the videos that interest us. This is done on an editing software. We thus recover the 360° videos which will be used as scenery on the virtual reality set.
Shooting on virtual set
Once all the elements were in place, as in a TV show or news program, we went to see Jean-Paul Chevreux, an engineer in the Innovation and Prospective department of France tv. He accompanied us in the filming of the virtual set: two powerful computers from Gamer and two virtual reality helmets later, our two journalists were on their virtual set via Facebook Spaces. They had 360° videos in the form of balls that they could display on the set behind them.
3 angles of shots:
They could record themselves, "from inside" the set, with a virtual smartphone to create a camera axis. They also had to change the smartphone's location for the shooting angle but also change the shot values (wide shot, medium shot etc...).
To have other shot styles, Jean-Paul implemented the OBS software to capture the view of Jeff and Matt's helmets.
In the end this allows to get 3 camera axes + cut shots with the smartphone taken at the end to have enough material in post-production.
The Facebook Spaces platform being in Beta version, we had some difficulties, such as regular crashes preventing us from doing things all at once. The quality of the videos when they're in the background didn't satisfy us either, but it was difficult to reach Facebook's technical service to improve the experience.
Post-production
Jean-François and Matthias recovered all the elements and went on to the final assembly. The set with its 3 shooting axes, a 16/9 video of hyphenation, the synchronization of the sound, then a sound mix.
The result?
Watch the video below and don't hesitate to give us your opinion! What is certain is that our two journalists went back to the adventure with shorter modules to see if the principle is interesting in a short and industrializable version.
More information :
If you have ideas to make the concept evolve, we are interested ✉ !
We'll be watching the arrival of Facebook Horizon carefully to see if there are any interesting ideas that arise to serve the information and we'll be sure to keep you posted!
Two other videos, this time immersed in the Christmas windows and in the editorial staff of Franceinfo .
