While the hype about virtual reality (VR) over-indexed at CES 2016, there's good reason for network operators to be interested in the technology, not the least of which is all that traffic it could generate.
For pay-TV companies and cable networks, VR promises a new way to tell stories and engage viewers. Technology-wise, delivering a VR experience is more complicated than having a video services customer plug a headset USB cable into a set-top box. VR requires powerful hardware for image processing, with multiple image angles being stitched together to form a high-resolution, 360-degree tapestry.
Yet with Facebook investing $2 billion into Oculus VR -- and the first fruit of that investment, the Oculus Rift headset -- about to hit store shelves, virtual reality is becoming more real than ever. FierceCable takes a closer look at what's driving all this interest here.