View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

Sky News broadcasts first 360-degree virtual reality news report on migrants crisis

By Dominic Ponsford

Sky News has broadcast its first virtual reality news report: Migrants Crisis, The Whole Picture.

The report has been produced with technology from Jaunt Inc and uses a camera with multiple lenses to take a 360-degree moving image.

This can be then viewed with a smartphone placed inside a Google Cardboard VR viewer, which costs around £15.

Sky News director of news output John McAndrew said: “This new technology has enhanced our story telling, giving our viewers a deeper and richer visual experience.

“For the first time we can take viewers to the scene of a news story in a way that is more immersive than ever. The report gives viewers a unique perspective on the migration crisis. By taking them inside the tents where people are living and seeing what it’s like to stand on a crowded beach with possessions scattered along the shoreline, you get a new understanding of what is happening.”

Sky News correspondent Alistair Bunkall said: “The technology means we can challenge the conventions of traditional television news reporting by showing viewers the whole picture, enabling them to see and hear it all for themselves. We can now bring the viewer with us, into the heart of the story, to see what we’re seeing, in places where they would not usually be able to go.”

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Sky has been an investor in Jaunt since 2013 and has already used the technology for drama and sports coverage.

To watch the video in VR viewers to need to:

The video can also be viewed on Youtube.

 

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network