With the proliferation of online videos (for example, YouTube), several questions arise: How will we watch videos in the future? How will the experience of watching videos be enhanced and complemented in the near future?

Exploring one possible futuristic application of video viewing is Windy Sight Surfers, an application for 360-degree, high-definition, immersive videos with georeferences, plus the addition of a small wind-producing device to enhance immersion. The novelty of this application is that it tackles immersion, not in large expensive virtual reality setups, but in mobile and desktop settings. Videos were taken using a GoPro HD camera and a 360-degree camera, and georeferences and weather and wind metadata were captured. By allowing the playback of this captured data in an interactive online application, users can have a better sense of “being there.”

A careful study of user experiences is used to show that the additions of wind feedback, georeferencing, and interactivity enhance user involvement and immersion and presumably satisfaction.

The application, though arguably far-fetched, is an interesting exploration of the future of online video viewing with multiple modalities, providing interactivity and immersion. It opens up the context of video viewing from a simple passive act to an interactive immersive experience, and highlights the need for further work in multimodal video viewing research. It is also a great example of providing immersion within a mobile and more accessible context, without the need for large-scale virtual environment simulation hardware.

Anyone thinking of various ways to improve the online viewing experience will do well to consider Windy Sight Surfer as one example of outside-the-box thinking and the careful design of user experience and scalable technologies.