In April of 2020, an app called Quibi launched and changed the game for online streaming. While launching in the middle of a pandemic, more people were open and available to see the content that Quibi had on their app. From mini-series to new shows to indulge in, Quibi has grown to be a popular source of entertainment during these tough times.
As Quibi continues to come out with new snippets and shows to watch for all of us who are stuck at home, their newest show is the most interesting. Their ten-minute-long show Wireless is about a college student who was driving next to the Rocky Mountains. He starts texting while driving and ends up crashing next to these mountains with nothing but his phone to save him. The interesting thing about this new show is not the plot – although it is extremely thrilling – the interesting thing is the technology that Quibi is using for this show and some of the other shows on the app.
As Zach Wechter, the director of Wireless explains it in the Original Content podcast with Anthony Ha, this new show is featuring something he calls “turnstyle technology.” Now what could turnstyle technology be you may ask? Simply put, it’s a trippy way of watching a show on your phone. With Quibi being made for your phone specifically, they wanted to give their audience a feature that stands out. If you watch the show horizontally, you are seeing the show in its regular perspective. However, if you rotate your phone and watch the show vertically, you are experiencing what the character is experiencing via his cellular device! Crazy, right?
This technology allows you to switch between the landscape mode (horizontal) and the portrait mode (vertical), getting the same show from two different perspectives. Being only a ten-minute-long show, it can be tricky to decide what style you want to view it in, but Wechter says to just “go with your gut” and do what feels right.
What are your thoughts of this new and exciting way to watch shows? Will you be watching Wireless on Quibi? Let us know down in the comments.
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
