1 Optimize for the best user experience today.

An intersection of HD virtual reality hardware displays and stereoscopic camera capture needed to reproduce life as we experience it isn’t perfect. Yet.

A better experience of the #DemDebateVR would be an addition of techniques:

People want freedom of teleporting between different camera perspectives. We will be integrating this more in future events. This freedom was successfully exhibited in the multi-camera FOX Sports U.S. Open NextVR broadcast.

The best picture quality happens at closer distances, for example viewing from the perspective of the scorer’s table at an NBA game. Camera placements are limited by event production dependent. The Democratic debate was correctly optimized for a TV broadcast, they averaged a record 15.3 million viewers.

Overall, one of the most memorable moments from #DemDebateVR was when Hillary Clinton waved at me after Sheryl Crow sang the national anthem. Moments in first-person virtual reality can have personal impact; this moment impacted me in a more personal manner than I have ever experienced when watching media on a traditional screen.

From ConvrgeVR during #DemDebateVR

2 Be aware of the hardware limitations.

NextVR captures all of our experiences in 6K resolution per eye. As the Gear VR displays around 2.5k resolution, with an effective resolution of about 1000 pixels per eye.

NextVR image quality strongly correlates to hardware display improvements. As hardware displays improve, so will all of NextVR’s experiences.

Live-action virtual reality is not HD today. It is getting better. Much better.

This isn’t the HD on TVs or mobile retina displays. Cellphone displays are crisp, when held at arm’s length. When you have a display 2 inches from your eyes, with a magnifying lens in between, it’s a different pixel game. Our vision’s “pixel density” is far superior to any displays available today (go humans!).

3 Have easy-to-access technical product support.

We learned from the Twitter reactions during Tuesday’s #DemDebateVR. The current Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Home software is dubbed as an “Innovator Edition” for early adopters and enthusiasts, with a consumer-ready Gear VR coming this Black Friday.

Gear VR headsets that hadn’t been connected to the internet in a while produced the most complicated user experience. If someone was trying to tune into the #DemDebateVR on Tuesday as their 1st time using the Gear VR, you may have run into a number of uninstalls and reinstalls.

4 Developers need deep-linking from Oculus Home.

Having a direct link to send Gear VR users right into the #DemDebateVR would have helped streamline the experience. This isn’t yet available, but it’s coming.

5 “Be open, be curious.” — Peter Guber

Lastly, the first-ever virtual reality broadcast of a news event did not happen without shortcomings (Were you stuck at a Coldplay concert?). Despite that:

Virtual reality broadcasting is here.

And it’s not perfect.

One day the image quality will be indistinguishable from reality.

This is only the beginning of the beginning.