As an American, it is assumed that I watch a whole lot of television. We all do! We love sitting in front of ye olde boob tube, gazing placidly at our stories as we mindlessly consume massive amounts of nachos. However, the one thing modern televisions lack is the ability to watch stuff in its intended 360 degrees. We are lucky to get 40-50 degrees as it currently stands. What a drag! Don’t worry. There is some technology in the wings that will take television watching to the next level. We’ll be able to watch stuff as mother nature intended, in complete and utter surroundy-ness.
It all boils down to eyewear devices that track the movement of the human head, which allows for a 360 degrees field of vision. A Japanese telecom company called NTT has teamed up with a content provider to, in the very near future, begin to start bringing this tech to the masses(In Japan.) Provided the viewer is wearing a head mounted display, you’ll be good to go. You don’t even need a television! This tech is expected to be used for watching live concerts and sporting events. Finally, finally, finally you can just stare at your favorite rock star’s butt for three hours.
The service is currently being put through stress testing although NTT hasn’t announced a proper release date yet. If the service proves to be effective, we can expect it to begin showing up on Japanese channels before too long. After that? Who knows, maybe we’ll be able to watch reality TV in 360 degrees.
