Nokia announces next-generation technologies for the advancement of virtual reality with 'OZO Reality' vision and partner ecosystem

At NAB 2017 in Las Vegas, Nokia will unleash an ambitious slate of new technologies and enhancements to its OZO product line-up. The total system update includes OZO+, a significant upgrade of Nokia's industry-leading professional VR camera solution, coupled with OZO Creator, Nokia's completely updated VR image processing and stereoscopic software now including mixed reality enablement. This powerful combination produces generational advancements in image quality and efficiency in the creative process. Nokia has also significantly enhanced OZO Live, the highly-regarded scalable 3D 360 livestream solution, with spatial audio mixing and the unique spatial audio technology OZO Audio.

Nokia is announcing a major step in solving the problem of delivering immersive experiences over existing networks. The new OZO Reality Platform, including OZO Deliver, OZO Player SDK, and Nokia VR format extensions, enables higher-quality experiences to reach broader audiences by allowing for delivery and playback interoperability. These technologies enable a broad ecosystem of partners to deliver higher resolution, spatial audio, and support for mixed reality experiences for content captured with any high-quality VR camera system.

Nokia will showcase at NAB its industry-leading technologies across every step of the virtual reality workflow:

CREATE
OZO+ - The industry-leading professional virtual reality camera solution that captures stereoscopic 360 video and 360x360 spatial sound receives its most significant update yet:

• Paired with OZO Creator, OZO+ produces professional-grade images that have better dynamic range and better color so that they are sharper, cleaner and more natural than ever before.

• Enabled through the rich stereoscopic data captured in RAW format, OZO+ is the only VR camera that creates depth maps ready for 3DFX compositing and mixed reality experiences.

OZO Creator - Combines powerful RAW image processing with easy-to-use and efficient post-production tools that seamlessly integrate into VR production workflows:

• The completely new ISP (image signal processing pipeline) delivers next-gen visual quality for content shot with OZO+ and VR cameras.

• In addition to best-in-class stereoscopic stitching, OZO Creator now features depth map export and Nokia VR distribution format extension support to enable mixed reality content that deliver new advancements in creative control and quality.

 OZO Live - Produce live 3D 360 experiences to professional broadcast standards:

• New spatial audio mixing capabilities allow for the creation of customized audio mixes for each camera feed, incorporating both ambient audio and sound reinforcement from multiple audio feeds, with output in 5.1, ambisonics, or OZO Audio format.

• World's first public demonstration of dual-UHD output for 4K per eye resolution live streaming that unlocks unprecedented quality alongside OZO Live's renowned reliability and professional broadcasting at scale.

DELIVER
The backbone of the OZO Reality Platform is a set of technologies and format extensions, developed by Nokia and embraced by a broad ecosystem of partners, which enable the real-world delivery of 360 video and mixed reality experiences with unprecedented efficiency and uncompromised quality:

VR format extensions - Nokia's VR distribution and streaming format extensions now enable higher resolution, depth carriage, and spatial audio.

OZO Deliver - A software component that enables OZO Reality Platform partners to ingest and manage advanced immersive experiences, and to deliver them at lower bandwidth to broader audiences.

EXPERIENCE
Depth-enabled mixed reality, spatial full-sphere sound and support for 4K, 6K and 8K resolution enable audiences to experience immersive presence in the way creators envisioned:

OZO Player SDK - Native code that can run in an existing video app for turnkey playback of VR content:

• Provides a single interface to efficiently develop for all major VR and 360 video platforms and apps.

• Now features depth rendering with occlusion to provide real-time integration of mixed reality elements like advertising and game-engine created elements.

OZO Audio - Advanced spatial audio technology with 3D recording and playback capabilities, designed specifically for smartphone and camera manufacturers.

• Provides a single interface to efficiently develop for all major VR and 360 video platforms and apps.

• OZO Audio is also fully integrated into the OZO Player SDK to deliver the most immersive audio and visual experiences

PARTNERS
To drive acceleration and adoption of OZO Reality, Nokia has forged partnerships with world-class companies that touch each aspect of content creation, delivery and end-user experience.

OZO Reality Platform partners (alphabetical):

• 3stage Design will be integrating the OZO Player SDK into their entire VR ecosystem to deliver immersive experiences to their customers.

• Accedo, the leading video experience pioneer, will be integrating the OZO Player SDK in customers deployments to secure high quality, immersive cross-platform Virtual Reality experiences globally.

• Akamai: As a launch partner for Nokia's OZO Reality platform, Akamai and Nokia will work together to bring the highest quality 3D 360 stereoscopic VR experiences with ingest support of Nokia's VR video formats across the Akamai platform. At NAB, we will demonstrate live virtual reality streaming at low latency using an OZO Live feed from Nokia's booth to Akamai's Media Services Live, rendered via the OZO Player SDK at Akamai's booth.

• AWS Elemental and Nokia have delivered more than 25 live 360-degree events in 10 countries including live concerts, music festivals, sports, live TV shows and political conventions. AWS Elemental was the first encoding vendor to engage with Nokia to provide virtual reality experiences for viewers, the first to deliver live 4K per eye, and the first to support Nokia's new Viewport-Adaptive Streaming solution to deliver 4K resolution and optimized bandwidth efficiency.

• China Interncontinental Communication Center (CICC) is a comprehensive international cultural communication organization with the goal of producing and broadcasting documentaries that showcase the many facets of China to the world. CICC has partnered with Nokia OZO to capture, produce and distribute premium stereoscopic VR content with immersive spatial audio playback for the very best in storytelling using OZO+ and the OZO Reality Platform.

• Haivision: Using the Intel-powered Haivision KB 4K encoder together with the Nokia OZO camera and OZO Live software, organizations can stream reliable, high quality, virtual reality experiences that combine 360-degree viewing and a 3D immersive experience for online audiences.

• Harmonic will be integrating the OZO Reality platform into their encoder and cloud solutions for customers who want immersive VR production, delivery and playback capabilities.

• Ideal Systems, with locations in over 10 countries throughout Asia, is the leading broadcast system integrator in APAC. Partnering with Nokia OZO to bring live VR experiences to the region, Ideal System is delivering a full suite of services from OZO camera rental and purchase to the Ideal Live platform powered by OZO Live and a comprehensive VR app development expertise with the OZO Player SDK. Earlier this month, Ideal Systems partnered with PCCW Global and Nokia to broadcast the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament in full live 3D 360.

• Kaltura will expand their existing support for web-based 360 video using Nokia's OZO Reality Platform technologies, enabling high quality delivery across the full range of major HMD platforms. These capabilities will be deployed throughout Kaltura's extensive suite of enterprise, education, and media solutions.

• LiveLike and Nokia are partnering to integrate the OZO Reality platform that will enable LiveLike's VR platform to deliver immersive, live sports viewing experiences to broadcasters and sports teams.

• NeuLion and Nokia announced that OZO Live and OZO Deliver together with the NeuLion Digital Platform will offer joint customers complete end-to-end production, delivery, monetization and play-back of live and on-demand VR content to enable professional 360 VR streaming and delivery with unprecedented efficiency and quality. 

• Nibiru, one of China's technology leaders in the mobile VR technology and operating service provider space, has partnered with Nokia to deliver the best-in-class immersive stereoscopic 360 and spatial audio playback to their customers. As a launch partner for OZO Reality Platform, Nibiru will integrate the OZO Player SDK in their All-in-One HMDs and VR System to bring the OZO Reality quality as a native playback offering for business, education, and gaming uses.

• Primestream's Dynamic Media Management software, which supports the browsing of immersive 360-degree content, will be adding support for the OZO Reality Platform and giving customers the ability to capture, produce, manage and deliver high quality VR content created with OZO+.

• Ratio, a technology services company dedicated to superior app experiences, will be launching new immersive VR capabilities in their VR Media Applications powered by the OZO Player SDK. The bespoke and OTT Platform, Ratio TV, will unlock a new level of presence with the playback of stereoscopic VR video, spatial audio, and the full fidelity of OZO content for its customers.

• Qello will integrate their leading content monetization platform with the OZO Reality Platform technologies, providing a complete suite of services for professional VR creators seeking to reach consumers directly with their content, whether it is via SVOD, AVOD or live pay-per-view.

• Youku's collaboration with Nokia will enable millions of people in China to enjoy incredibly immersive video and audio VR content through breakthrough technologies enabled in the OZO Reality Platform. Youku has signed on to leverage the entire OZO VR suite through its content creation and distribution businesses. More importantly, Youku is actively integrating the OZO Player SDK and supporting the ingest of the OZO format extensions which collectively deliver a superior consumer VR/MR experience that would be available in all its platforms, mobile apps and consumer offerings.

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