Docomo develops world’s first 360-degree 8K VR live video streaming and viewing system

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NTT Docomo has developed what is believed to be the world’s first 8K virtual reality (VR) live video streaming and viewing system for showing live events in 360° 8K VR video. A head-mounted viewing system creates highly realistic VR experiences for enjoying music and sporting events that allow viewers to feel as if they are actually at the venue.

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The heavy demands of processing 4 x 4K video for real-time stitching and compression into 360° 8K video is difficult to achieve with software. DOCOMO’s solution was to use a field programmable gate array (FPGA) for extra-fast processing and an algorithm for high-density mounting (maximizes FPGA processing) at 30 frames per second (fps).

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To view video in the head-mounted display, the 360° 8K video is divided into multiple clipped videos (tiles) so that only the video corresponding to the user’s viewing direction needs to be displayed. In addition, a Panorama Cho Engine encoder is used for devising algorithms that enable real-time operation, thereby reducing the processing demands for live transmission.

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The system comprises equipment that stitches together five 4K fisheye videos from five outward-facing cameras in real time at 30fps, an 8K H.264 encoder for real-time compression, the real-time Panorama Cho Engine encoder to divide the 360° 8K video into multi-direction tiles, and a server to transmit tiles according to the user’s viewing direction.

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