Design of video player and user interfaces for branched 360 degree video

Abstract: Branched video enables users to interact with the video content and to choose a unique path through that content. With the further development of Virtual Reality (VR) technology the integration of branched video in these systems becomes increasingly convincing. This thesis develops a 360 degree branched video player in Unity Editor and three different user interfaces (UI) tailored for the needs of branched 360 degree video content, both the design and implementation focus on the aspects of usability. To expedite development of the UIs ,a preliminary user study was conducted to identify a promising design direction. From the study it was established that plain buttons with descriptive text attached, anchored in front of the field of view at the time of appearing, was to be preferred for the selection of the subsequent branch. This design was preferred both in a short motion picture and exploratory film setting. However, world-space anchored symbols as depicted to appear transporting the user to that world-space location showed promise in an exploratory video setting. Based on the result of the study and subjective feedback from study participants, additional features was implemented to the user interfaces. Lastly, further development of both features for the user interface, tools regarding the video player, and a follow-up user study are suggested.