Euronews harnesses the versatility of Samsung Gear 360 to create 360-degree content for interactive video reporting.

Euronews announced today a project to create virtual reality (VR) news content by leveraging the Samsung Gear 360 to provide viewers an immersive experience.

 

Fully integrated in the regular workflow of its international newsroom, each week Euronews produces 360-degree news content using the Samsung Gear 360, which launched earlier this year.

 

As part of this project, supported by funding from the Google Digital News Initiative (DNI) Innovation Fund, Euronews journalists and its network of correspondents are equipped with a Samsung Gear 360 device and trained to maximise opportunities presented by the new platform.

 

The immersive journalism puts viewers in command by allowing them to choose the angle they want to watch the news – consumers can change the view of the newscast by using a mouse on a PC or by swiping their mobile screen. Original 360-degree content will include reports on current affairs, culture and sports, as well as sponsored content developed in collaboration with advertising partners.

 

The Samsung Gear 360 is lightweight and easy to use, making it convenient for Euronews reporters to transport while shooting news stories in Europe and around the world. News teams will use the device to capture breaking news and feature stories. The streamlined post-production editing process of content created by the Gear 360 means videos can be published quickly and efficiently for time-sensitive stories.

 

The interactive videos and images produced in collaboration with Samsung are available on PCs, tablets and mobile devices for consumers’ viewing pleasure – and with virtual reality headsets offering a more advanced viewing experience, there are new opportunities to reach a large audience and promote Euronews’ groundbreaking “All Views” philosophy.

 

Euronews incorporates the 360-degree news reports into regular workflows and publish content across digital platforms including euronews.com, YouTube, Facebook and VR sites such as Vrideo.

 

  Olivier de Montchenu, Euronews Sales Managing Director

“Euronews’ immersive journalism project is a very exciting and promising development that will involve journalists and editors from across the company.

Our goal is to develop a sustainable monetisation model for our digital news ecosystem. Today, we are proud to cooperate with Samsung to enhance the work of our journalists and offer an unrivalled degree of reporting from a consumer media outlet, changing the way people view news forever.

In addition, Euronews brings to Samsung an opportunity to promote its Gear 360 device. As a multilingual media outlet, users will be able to watch 360-degree reports about international current affairs in their own language. We are convinced it is a good opportunity to reach a worldwide audience.”

 

  Duncan Hooper, Euronews Editor in chief, digital platforms

“Our goal with our 360 project is to involve journalists from across our operations. The Samsung Gear 360 is intuitive to use and will allow us to create high-quality videos without requiring extensive technical training. Because it is small and lightweight, we can take it with us on any shoot and the simple post production process means that for the first time, we are able to turn around VR content quickly for time-sensitive news events.”

 

  Heesun Kim, Vice President of Global Marketing,
Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

“This is an exciting time as we push boundaries in the way news content is created and delivered through our collaboration with Euronews. Imagine being able to sit in the stands of a sporting event happening across the globe or standing in the crowd, witnessing an important political debate. With the Gear 360, Samsung makes this possible by offering viewers a truly immersive and interactive 360-degree experience.”

(Source: Euronews press release)