03/08/2014 Click

And welcome to the BBC's Broadcasting House in London.

But what does the future of TV look like?

Well, back in the '80s, the futurologists were telling us

exploring our own virtual worlds from the comfort of our own homes.

The problem was back then VR was rubbish.

So it went away, but not, as it turns out, for good.

These days the displays inside the goggles are much better

and the motion`sensing technology is far more responsive,

and that means virtual reality is back.

And it's not just being used in video games.

Dan Simmons has been to the Commonwealth Games in Scotland

where the BBC is attempting to give you a ringside seat.

It's the biggest sporting event Scotland has ever hosted,

and for those responsible for broadcasting the Commonwealth Games,

the aim is not solely to show what's here.

It's to make some lucky people feel that they are.

Inside the Hydro Arena, camera operators have been practising

their own floor routines to ensure smooth coverage of the gymnastics.

is setting up a different kind of kit.

He's capturing and then sending a live 360 degrees video signal

To capture it all, this camera has seven lenses `

six around the side and one on the top.

Special software stitches together the seven video feeds on the fly

a spatial audio microphone records the sound from all directions.

The action in the Hydro is streamed live over the internet

to the Science Centre, in this case just half a mile away,

but of course theoretically viewers could be anywhere

Creating the illusion that you're actually there

that show a small section of that 360 degree video.

Motion sensors work out your head movements

to show you what you'd be looking at as if you were there.

Now, we've seen surround vision cameras before,

but getting the footage to the audiences with minimal time lag,

around three or four seconds, is the impressive part.

that the quality of the video needs to be reduced

so it can be stitched together faster and sent across the net.

So the picture isn't as sharp as we're used to,

that the screen is so close to our eyes.

In future, higher powered processing and more bandwidth for each viewer

For now, getting a smooth, reliable feed is more important.

This is the first time that a major sporting event

has been streamed live to a VR headset,

something that could be an everyday reality in the future.

We're sending the sound in a special format that allows us to move that

when you move your head, and that can really add to the experience,

because you'll hear something that happens over your shoulder

and turn your head to be able to look and see what's going on.

So people usually just think of the video side of things,

but the audio really adds to the experience.

We're running it in real time so that we can do a live broadcast.

Of course, with a lot of money going into this area

from broadcasters and web streaming companies,

and a glimpse into the director's gallery backstage.

And out in the field with reporters, literally,

could this be the future of nature programmes?

If viewers truly invest in its use, then these experiments today

for the Commonwealth Games could be offered up for real

in time for the next Olympic Games in just two years' time.

Next up, a look at this week's tech news.

The UK Government has announced that driverless cars

will be allowed on public roads from January next year.

Previously, concerns about legal and insurance issues

had restricted the machines to only being allowed on private roads.

The Government has also invited cities

to compete in trials of the tech, while a review of road regulations

has been ordered to provide guidelines for the introduction.

Next step ` flying DeLoreans, I promise!

on Canada's National Research Council

could take up to a year to repair, according to its government.

The attack, which temporarily shut down Research Council's computers,

has been blamed on a Chinese state`sponsored actor

dismissed the report as a groundless allegation.

It is unclear which information was compromised.

And finally, it turns out Facebook isn't the only site

Lots of them do, including dating company OK Cupid.

The matchmaking site released analytics

showing how it made up compatibility ratings

to influence how people viewed prospective matches.

The result? Well, love is just as complicated

no matter how compatible you're told you are.

Fans of sci`fi movies and TV shows are an incredibly loyal bunch.

Which means if you make a video game of their favourite movie

and you don't get it right, they will not forgive you.

And that's why the team behind the latest attempts

to adapt the sci`fi franchise Alien really had its work cut out for it.

Marc Cieslak has been finding out if anyone can hear him scream.

I think... I think there's something here.

And the prospect of a close encounter which won't end well.

Alien: Isolation remixes the ingredients from

the 1979 movie to create a first person survival`horror video game.

Set 15 years after the events of the sci`fi classic chiller,

the player adopts the role of Amanda Ripley,

the daughter of the movie's original heroine.

And in a nod to the big screen incarnation

of cinema's unfriendliest ET, two bonus missions,

which these exclusive shots reveal, reimagine key points from the film.

It's disappeared into one of the cooling ducts.

And the movie's cast have returned to lend vocal talents to the game.

We should never have landed on this damn ball. Over and out.

to meet the actress who played the only surviving crew member

of the commercial shipping vessel the Nostromo.

Sigourney Weaver returns to the role that made her famous,

this time playing a virtual version of herself in 1979.

Why return to the role of Ellen Ripley?

The movie, you know, it still sort of means something to people.

I still meet people who are, you know,

young people who are still discovering it for the first time.

And I thought it's such a specific, cool, claustrophobic world,

that the idea of giving everybody the opportunity

to come into that world and make some of those decisions,

and have that adventure personally, I get it, I dig it,

and I think it's very immersive, and really scary,

and also, in its odd way, very beautiful.

As soon as I opened my mouth, it was Ripley's voice,

It was like she'd been sitting next to me for these 35 years,

and I guess if you've played a part that many times,

that they sort of become part of your DNA.

So there she was, you know, and we had quite an interesting day.

Alien is one of cinema's great horror movies.

Do you think this video game can compete

I think they take the scare in a really new, visceral direction.

that people really hated leaving that world.

I feel, with this, that after probably so many of the fans

watching this movie so many times, the opportunity to trade places

with one of the characters and be in that world

that has sort of haunted you for so long will be very satisfying.

And I think... I've only, you know, dabbled in video games,

but I actually think they are a very interesting creative, new world.

People who make games are discovering that there is

a much bigger audience for games, that's much more interested

in content and in story and in subtlety of character

and things like that, than just shoot`'em`up.

My husband directed a video game that's based and inspired by a play,

so there's a whole huge world that video games are heading into

that I think will be fantastic for the audience.

They will be the stars of their own picture.

And gamers will be able to find out if they have the stomach

to star in their own version of this deep space scare`'em`up

when the title is released in October.

That is it for short version, for the full version you can go to the

website. Thank you for watching, we will see you next time.

Some of us have had a lovely weekend, for others it has not

stopped raining, particularly across parts of Scotland and Northern

Ireland. Closest to the centre, you can see the cloud wrapped into the

eye of the storm, across Glasgow. It is now edging slowly northwards. The

worst of the weather will continue in that direction, but still some