Have your avatar sit in the room: the show begins

In Italy, according to estimates at the beginning of the year, there are over 10 million subscriptions to streaming platforms, with more than 15 million users. The increase over the months of the lockdown was 20%. The big names in entertainment have grown, but they have also had to adapt the offer to a more demanding and varied audience. Disney +, which in 2020 alone reached 90 million global subscribers, after a slow start (many complained about the few titles available) added the Star offering and experienced the success of on-demand previews and the launch of titles directly. on the platform to bypass the room closures. Netflix did not stand by, multiplying the original productions and diversifying them according to the countries. Amazon Prime Video, thanks to a limited subscription cost and connected to other Prime services, has dared in the field of on demand by introducing the possibility of renting and buying films and events right in the middle of the pandemic. Now it has also won the rights for the Champions League Wednesdays and for the secondary matches of the 2022 World Cup (plus quarter-finals, semi-finals and final together with Rai). And he tries the coup: it seems it is a matter of days, if not hours, the closing of the agreement for the purchase by the creature of Bezos of MGM, the major of the roaring lion that holds the rights, among others, of James Bond , Rocky, RoboCop and The Hobbit, as well as many home series that can pass through the rooms as gliding directly in the living room. Such a wide and quality offer from streaming services is leading to an adaptation also in use: more and more smart TVs at the center of the domestic scene. According to the Univideo 2020 report published in recent days, more than tablets or PCs, Italian families choose the television connected to the network to watch films, documentaries and series, with an average of 6 hours a day of use. And in the last year for the first time, thanks to the closures of shops, the turnover of digital entertainment has exceeded the physical one (ie DVD and Blu ray) .The comfort of the sofa accompanied by the high definition of the latest generation smart TVs they allowed us to forget about cinema for a few months, and now we also bring VR devices that make home viewing even more immersive. Apps like Bigscreen allow you to choose the location and rent films or access to sporting events, concerts, exclusive screenings. And then there are the proprietary apps of the platforms. Netflix offers the possibility to choose a virtual living room from which to watch films, documentaries and TV series. Amazon Prime Video does the same, but it takes us to a cinema room where you can sit your avatar, and choose what to watch even with voice commands. Rai has also adapted, with its VR media app, all made in Italy, which projects the viewer into a modern living room equipped with a mega screen, from which to watch the chosen contents. All also include the presence of videos made specifically for VR, that is, totally immersive at 360 degrees. From cartoons to documentaries to action films, we move among the protagonists. Another function, not reserved only for VR (but which is certainly even more fun if sitting next to us we see the avatars of distant friends or relatives) is simultaneous group viewing with the possibility of commenting live, a particularly attractive factor for sporting events. Traditional cinema, which was already in crisis before the pandemic, is looking for a new identity between hybrid multiplexes and arthouse cinema. And it must hurry to run for cover to compete with increasingly advanced home screens. We will get a taste from the Turin cinema museum, which does not limit itself to remembering the glories of the past but wants to project the seventh art into the future. Reopening these days, it has inaugurated two new rooms, the first in Italy dedicated to virtual reality. An 8-hour continuous daily program featuring titles made specifically for VR, to be enjoyed on one of the 40 dedicated chaise lounges.