Viewing Video with the MV32

Last updated
Save as PDF

This article goes through the different ways you can view video on the MV32 fisheye camera. For more on the image quality, read Understanding Image Quality on the MV32.

The MV32 is a fisheye camera that allows you to view 360-degree video in an immersive experience using digital pan-tilt-zoom on a PC (DPTZ), motion-based immersive mobile viewing, or virtual reality (VR) using a headset.

Below is a table summarizing the support of these viewing experiences on various platforms.

View	PC	Oculus Go	Mobile Browser	Mobile App
Fisheye	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DPTZ	Yes	No	Yes*	No
VR	No	Yes	Unofficial support	No

*While using a mobile device, an immersive mobile experience replaces DPTZ. Instead of clicking and dragging, you use motion to pan and tilt around your field of view.

Fisheye View (warped, default view)

The default view for the MV32 is a circular, warped, 360-degree view. This is supported on all platforms. To change to a different view or to go back to fisheye view, click on "Change View" on the bar above above the feed.

Screen Shot 2019-05-02 at 2.04.26 PM.png

DPTZ Experience (dewarped view)

To generate the DPTZ view, the circular fisheye image is mapped to half of a sphere, which you can navigate on a PC or a mobile device. The other half of this sphere is a black canvas.

PC Experience: Click, drag and scroll

With the MV32 fisheye camera, you can see a dewarped image and do DPTZ using the Meraki dashboard. Click "DPTZ" in the "Change View" dropdown. From this view, you can navigate around the field by clicking and dragging to pan and tilt. You can also scroll for digital zoom. Scrolling while in fisheye view actually puts you in DPTZ mode automatically (and you can keep scrolling for additional zoom).

2019-05-02 14.04.54.gif

Note: You can export fisheye video in both warped and dewarped views.

Mobile Experience: Motion-based

While using a mobile browser, DPTZ is replaced with an immersive mobile viewing experience that tracks your motion to pan and tilt around the field of view. To get to this option, click "DPTZ" in the "Change View" dropdown and start moving around.

ezgif.com-video-to-gif (11).gif

VR Experience

This experience is brought to the next level on VR headsets such as an Oculus Go.

MV32 VR is not officially supported on mobile devices. See the section below for more details.

What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality is an immersive video experience that allows you to experience and interact with a three-dimensional space. It works because sensors like accelerometers inside your mobile device can determine a device’s orientation, which is then tracked and used to change the area of interest within your 360-degree view without clicking around the screen in any way.

Why Virtual Reality?

These days, many of our customers, especially in retail, pay a lot of money for someone to create a 360-degree view of their spaces for planning purposes. The problems with this are that it’s costly, and it also only depicts the state of the space at one point in time. With the MV32, you’re repurposing the security camera without any additional cost, plus you can also get a live and current view of the space.

VR on Standalone VR Headset: Oculus Go (validated support)

If VR mode for MV32 is not working on your Oculus Go, please ensure you are running the latest firmware.

Meraki Support will not be able to assist with issues related to viewing MV32 in virtual reality.

Steps

Ensure your standalone headset is set up with wireless internet.
With the headset on, use the controller to navigate to the headset's built-in browser.
Log into the Meraki dashboard.
Select the camera you want to view.
Navigate to the timestamp you are interested in.
Click the "Change View" dropdown and select "VR".
You will notice that you will be redirected into DPTZ mode but not yet VR mode. IMPORTANT: From here, click anywhere on the video screen to go into VR mode. (If you select "DPTZ" before going into "VR" mode, you will not need to click on the screen again.)
Move around and enjoy the experience!
- You cannot zoom in while using VR view on a VR headset.
Use the controller to exit out as "Change View" dropdown will not be visible.
If desired, you can cast your Oculus headset experience to your mobile phone using the Oculus app.

VR on Other Standalone VR Headsets (unofficial support)

Viewing MV32 in VR is officially supported on the Oculus Go. However, some known methods of viewing MV32 in VR are applicable for other headsets, though not officially supported.

To use MV32 in VR using an Oculus Rift, download an app called Supermedium, add Meraki Dashboard as a custom site, and follow the same steps as above.

VR on Mobile / Smartphone VR headsets (unofficial support)

Mobile browsers on devices such as Android phones and iPhones are enabled for virtual reality viewing of the MV32 but this is not officially supported due to performance differences across mobile browsers and operating systems.

Some issues with mobile VR viewing of the MV32 are to be expected (most issues are documented below). Using a VR headset is recommended. However, if this is the only method, follow the steps and guidelines below for the best experience.

Note: The mobile app is not VR-enabled. Use a browser on your phone for this experience.

Steps

First, ensure you have a smartphone VR headset such as a Google Cardboard.

Sign into the Meraki dashboard on any modern mobile browser.
- The recommendation is Google Chrome or Firefox.
  - On iOS, Safari is acceptable though has shown limitations on some iPhones.
Select the camera that you want to view.
Navigate to the timestamp you are interested in.
- Note: Live video in VR mode not available on iOS devices.
Ensure your mobile device is in landscape mode.
Click on the "Change View" dropdown, then select "VR".
You will then see this screen that asks you to “Place your phone into your Cardboard viewer”. Instead of placing your mobile device into the viewer right now, follow the next step first to ensure you have the best experience.
After a couple of seconds, you will then see what looks like two copies of the video.

On iOS, do not use the “Fullscreen” button as this does not work on mobile. Double tap on the middle of the video itself to focus the screen on the video (a type of “fullscreen”). Safari is recommended because you can hide the address bar in fullscreen mode. See the Guidelines & Known Limitations section for more detail.
On Android, you will be immediately navigated to fullscreen in VR mode. Chrome is recommended for most Android phones, but Firefox is recommended if your phone is smaller. See the Guidelines & Known Limitations section for more detail.

Note: If your phone was able to get into VR mode once but then had trouble afterward, try refreshing your browser. If your phone is unable to get into VR mode, ensure you are using the recommended browsers.

After getting to fullscreen view, place the mobile device in your headset and enjoy! Make sure to align the white line in the middle of the screen with the middle of the headset.
You can also switch between viewer modes by clicking on the settings button in the middle of VR video. The Google Cardboard I/O 2015 view has a slightly wider field of view while in VR mode.

Guidelines & Known Limitations

We recommend using modern browsers such as Safari, Firefox or Chrome only.

Some of the images and GIFs below were taken with a previous version of the dashboard, so some aspects of the interface may be different.

General

Browser

The most consistent experience has been through Firefox and Chrome browsers for both iOS and Android devices.

Phone Size

If your phone is too large for the viewer there may be distortion in the video. The way to get around this is actually to use Firefox, which will resize the view on Android devices to make it smaller (though off-center).

iOS

Live Video in VR mode Not Available

Live video cannot be viewed in VR mode on iOS devices due to an Apple Security Policy.

Double-tap to Fullscreen (All browsers)

In all browsers, double-tapping while the URL address bar is present causes it to stay on the screen in fullscreen mode. This will distract from the immersive experience since one can catch a glimpse of this bar while viewing from the headset. To avoid this, scroll down until the address bar disappears (Safari, Firefox) or minimizes (Chrome). The following GIF demonstrates how to do it properly in Safari, and then shows how not scrolling enough may cause a sub-optimal view.

Better Fullscreen	Less-than Fullscreen

Address Bar (Chrome only)

In Chrome, the address bar can never be hidden completely, although it can be minimized to reduce distraction.

Android

Navigation Bar on the Right (All browsers)

On Android, the navigation bar on the right stays in fullscreen. This is fine and should not affect the experience.

Firefox VR View is smaller and off-center

For Firefox on Android devices, the VR view becomes smaller and off-center. This is fine, just ensure that you align the center with the center of the headset.

Troubleshooting Tips

The VR view is stuck and does not move when I move.
- Try recalibrating your mobile device's gyroscope. A simple Google Search can help.
- If this doesn't work, use a different browser.
The VR view takes a while to load, is frozen, or is black.
- Is the dewarped, non-VR view functioning? If so, refresh your page - VR view should work easily if the dewarped view works.
- Otherwise, follow the tips below to troubleshoot dewarped view.
The dewarped, non-VR video takes a while to load, is frozen, or is black.
- Try closing other tabs on your mobile browser.
- If that doesn't work, try a different browser.
- Ensure you have a good internet connection.

Casting the Mobile Browser Experience on a PC

iOS

You can use Apple TV to mirror your phone screen. However, if you don’t have an Apple TV, you can use a wired connection and QuickTime on a Mac PC to screencast the mobile browser experience.

Connect your phone to your PC using a USB to lightning cable.
Open QuickTime Player on your PC.
Click File > New Movie Recording.

In the drop-down next to the record button, select the mobile device. Your device will start casting to the PC.

Note: If you’re recording, the recording will stop when you change phone orientation.

Android

You can use a Google Chromecast to mirror your phone screen. Here’s a helpful link.