After USC football won last fall’s conference championship, JuanPedro Huerta took a risk. As Pac-12 Networks’ digital video features producer, he was tasked with capturing the Trojans’ on-field celebration. Carrying an experimental 180-degree virtual reality camera from YouTube, Huerta found a spot in the end zone and defied a cameraman’s prime directive to avoid interaction. The decision paid off.
“Usually as a camera operator, you want to be a fly on the wall to capture moments without being intrusive of the student-athletes and their family and friends as they celebrate,” Huerta said. “But with the VR180 camera, I took the chance to let them know, ‘Hey this is virtual reality right here,’ and they responded with ‘oh, word?