In one of the most engaging weather reports you鈥檙e likely to see in a while, the Weather Channel brought the reality of a tornado much, much closer to home for viewers last week.
As part of a report about tornado categorisation, meteorologist Jim Cantore explained the different stages of the phenomenon in a broadcast with a twist.
Throughout the show, Cantore explains the different stages of tornadoes 鈥� and safety tips for each stage 鈥� as debris, powerlines and even a car appear to crash into the studio.
The demonstration used mixed reality (MR), which is聽similar to augmented reality (AR) and聽virtual reality (VR)聽in that it creates virtual objects and then overlays them into the real world, but goes a step further and allows users to interact with them.
Through MR聽the channel creates an incredibly realistic simulation of a tornado hitting the studio, with yellow 鈥榩op-ups鈥� appearing with facts and safety advice.
For example, after a powerline crashes into the frame, Cantore tells viewers to stay at least 40 feet away from any live wires, saying that where he was standing would be too close to the pole if it was real.
The 鈥楾ornado Hits The Weather Channel鈥� video ends with the anchor聽walking through the destruction after聽the studio is聽totally ripped apart.
With sirens wailing, flickering video connection and sparks appearing to emerge from live wires, the entire聽experience – apart from Cantore himself – was meticulously created by the channel in partnership with The Future Group and powered by聽Frontier and Unreal Engine.
The Weather Channel reckons the broadcast will 鈥渋gnite a revolution of weather presentation鈥� as part of a new era of聽real-time immersive storytelling.
While some reviews have said the graphics聽looked聽fake, the broadcast appears to have been generally well received.
Comments under the video on YouTube included 鈥榃ow this is great! I will be watching TWC more often now. Give a raise to who ever [sic] pushed this鈥�, 鈥業 like this format. It鈥檚 good and practical information presented in an interesting way鈥�, and 鈥楾he Weather Channel is broadcasting from 2028鈥�.
The channel has said it will be going one step further with plans to use the tech in 80 per cent of its programming by 2020.
Watch the video to discover the power of tornadoes 鈥� and mixed reality 鈥� for yourself.