Visbit Launches the First All-In-One 360-Degree Virtual Reality Video Streaming Service in Open Beta
“Company Also Introduces Pilot Partner Program to Support Live Streaming of 360 VR Videos”
Following a successful closed beta period that began in December 2016, virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree video streaming company Visbit is releasing their service into open beta, marking the industry’s first official availability of an end-to-end platform offering streaming of 4K and above resolution VR 360-degree videos over regular Wi-Fi and LTE for mobile VR devices. The company’s all-in-one service, which includes a publisher portal, VR cloud and VR player SDK, leverages its patented Visbit View-Optimized Streaming (VVOS) technology so content creators and publishers can simplify the management and delivery of Ultra High Definition (UHD) content to viewers at reduced bandwidth.
“Offloading the handling of video streaming and downloading, and the ability to stream high quality content on cellular connections is very helpful,” said Justin Lutz, lead innovation technologist at Primacy, a full service digital agency. “Visbit’s SDK is straightforward and simple to use, making it that much easier for us to deliver a quality video experience.”
From content publishing to transcoding, hosting, streaming and playing the video, Visbit provides a complete end-to-end solution that cuts development time and cost, allowing content creators and producers to focus on creating immersive experiences. The company’s move to open beta showcases a number of additions to the service, including:
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Visbit Adaptive Bitrate (VABR) streaming, which dynamically adapts to a viewer’s bandwidth, predicting how the video bitrate will change and what the viewer’s bandwidth will be to allow shorter startup times and faster adjustments with little to no buffering
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Support up to 6K stereoscopic 360-degree videos
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Advanced business intelligence analytics, including a heatmap and video performance comparison data by VR platforms
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VR Player SDK that allows publishers to embed a 360 VR video player into their own apps
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Offline playback
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Support across multiple VR platforms including Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus and Android Cardboard, with support for Daydream, iOS Cardboard and additional major VR platforms to be released in the coming months.
Visbit also announced that it is now able to support live streaming of 360-degree VR videos, making it the first foveated streaming solution that can transcode quickly enough to support live streaming. Via its pilot partner program, live content publishers and operators can pair Visbit’s service with a live streaming 360 camera to live stream 4K resolution 360-degree content and allow users to watch live VR events over regular home Wi-Fi and LTE networks.
“Thanks to the feedback from our closed beta users and initial testing, we’ve made a number of tweaks and additions to make our all-in-one streaming service more robust and available for broader adoption,” said CY Zhou, Visbit co-founder and CEO. “We continue to push the limits of what is possible – evident in our recent industry-first 12K streaming breakthrough and support for live streaming – and are looking forward to integrating these features, and more, into our service in the near future.”
Those interested in trying Visbit’s 360-degree VR video streaming service or to apply for the live streaming pilot partner program can sign up at www.visbit.co. Attendees of the upcoming VRLA Expo 2017, taking place April 14-15, 2017 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, can also see Visbit’s platform in action by visiting booth #753. A free demo app is also available on Gear VR and Android Cardboard to experience the difference between 4K and 6K video quality. Follow Visbit on Twitter and Facebook to stay apprised of additional enhancements to be revealed in the coming months.
About Visbit:
Visbit, Inc. is a visual technology company enabling 360-degree videos to be delivered at the highest possible streaming quality to consumers across multiple VR platforms. With its patented Visbit View-Optimized Streaming (VVOS) technology, Visbit is the first to offer an all-in-one streaming service that can deliver and play 360-degree VR videos without noticeable latency in 4K and above resolution over regular Wi-Fi and LTE for mobile and eventually tethered VR headsets.
Visbit’s all-in-one VR streaming service, which includes the publisher portal, the VR cloud and the player SDK, allows 360-degree VR videos to be viewed without downloading or heavy compression, which improves user experience, increases user reach and saves on overall data usage – closing the gap between VR content requirements and typical network speed capabilities.
The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Sunnyvale, CA. For more information go to www.visbit.co.
