BBC Click to air 360 degree video episode

This is pretty cool. BBC World News’ flagshsip technology programme CLICK is set to launch its its first ever 360 degree programme on Saturday 12 March.

The episode, which is set to feature never before broadcast views of CERN’s famous Large Hadron Collider, will also include a number of other 360 degree firsts.

According to a press release sent to Memeburn, viewers will also be privy to the world’s first 360 degree magic trick — created in concert with Derren Brown’s trick designer Anthony Owen — and the world’s first 360° game review. They will also explore a remote Swiss glacier to learn about the research technology buried beneath metres of snow, including a unique helicopter trip.

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Filmed using new ‘virtual reality’ cameras which capture 360 degree footage, the BBC says that this episode “places the audience inside the action, making them feel like part of the programme and providing a completely new way of experiencing stories”.

“Click has always been right at the forefront of technology and we know how much our audience love to see us tackling new and exciting opportunities in the most ambitious ways possible,” says BBC Click Editor Simon Hancock. “We have gone out of our way to bring the distinctive Click feel to this 360 degree special and have proved it is possible to create an entire programme and narrative using 360 degree tech. As BBC World News turns 25, and Click turns 16, it’s amazing to look back at how far we have come and thrilling to think what could be next.”

The 25 minute special discusses the advantages and the challenges of making 360 degree content as the team explore this new medium and how it can be used to tell compelling factual stories. They will also demonstrate some of the technologies that can let consumers create their own 360 degree videos at home.

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Ordinary TV viewers will get a sense of the what the episode is trying to do through the use sweeping point-of-view shots and kaleidoscopic ‘tiny planet’ panoramas

A fully interactive 360 degree episode will be available on the BBC Click YouTube channel where audiences can directly navigate their way through the footage, creating their own personal Click 360 degree experience. Several of the features will also be available on BBC.co.uk/Taster, the BBC’s experimental platform and home for new ideas where audiences can try, rate and share the 360 degree content themselves.

“To say filming an entire episode in 360 degrees was a challenge is an understatement,” says presenter Spencer Kelly; “from understanding which angles worked to making sure all six cameras were filming at the same time – up a mountain, in the snow – this has been no easy feat. The word is that VR could be the next big thing if only people could find something interesting to do with it – well we’ve certainly managed that. It’s been a 360° experience.”