Naver V Live to offer VR service in Q3 2019

Naver V Live will introduce a virtual reality (VR) service in the third quarter.

The service will be released as a separate app that can be played on the Oculus VR headset, said Naver V Live technology head Chang Joon-kee during a press event held Thursday in central Seoul.

Oculus is a Facebook company.

Naver V Live is a video streaming service for K-pop entertainment. A full 85 percent of its users are overseas. Chang said the 5G network will allow the service to deliver a more lively experience. The VR app is one of the many features it plans to release on the faster internet connection.

“The app released in the third quarter won’t be the full package - for example, not all videos will be in 4K and 8K resolution,” Chang added. “I don’t think we’ll be able to introduce everything when it comes to live videos and emerging sound. The goal for now is to improve technology through 2020.”

While noting that 5G is currently not stable everywhere, Chang said he expects the network to be widely available in one or two years based on the transition from 3G to 4G LTE.

Park Sun-young, Naver V Live’s head of entertainment services, said discussions are ongoing with entertainment companies about what kind of videos would be best on VR.

“It could be concerts, music videos, interviews - one area foreign fans are interested in is learning dances for K-pop songs, so we’re also talking about whether it would be good to make VR videos that teach dances,” said Park.

Naver also announced plans to expand its global services this year by attracting celebrities from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]