Virginia station shows an AR Santa turning blue to explain wind chill

By Michael P. Hill

Steve Fundaro, a meteorologist at WAVY in Norfolk, Virginia, used some extended reality elements to bring some holiday cheer while also explaining wind chill.

Fundaro was wrapping up his forecast during a December 2022 newscast and, as many stations do, the 7-day forecast was punched up fullscreen so he could, off camera, move back to the anchor desk.

WAVY’s circular anchor desk then appeared in the middle of a wide, three-shot of Fundaro standing next to two co-anchors.

Then, an AR pile of snow with some wrapped gifts faded in before Santa himself dropped down from above.

Santa first got to hang out in a comparatively warmer setting before the screen was filled with a flurry of snow, meant to help illustrate both winter precipitation and windy conditions — and how that wind moving across skin, combined with an already cold air temperature, can make one feel colder.

Blue AR cards poking out from one side of the snow pile added context.

During this part, Santa’s skin started turning blue — and the anchors began trying to swat away the snowflakes — despite the fact they obviously were not in the studio for real.

The WAVY anchor desk, which appears to a perfect circle with glass and internally lit segments, provides a great canvas for added AR elements.

Advertisement

This isn’t the first time Fundaro has used AR in his forecasts — a quick scan of his Twitter profile shows him using an AR evergreen covered in snow along with icicles clinging to part of the set.

This segment, along with others he’s done, involve a wider-than-normal shot of the 3×3 video wall that can be used for weather (the station still has a key wall as well) framed so that one of the vertically mounted panels backed with a distinct wave-like wall covering served as 

He’s also used a large snow drift and the icicles to summarize Western New York snowfall amounts earlier in the winter.

In October, he also used an AR Earth and Sun to explain meteorological autumn in a segment that notably had him “pushing” the orbs around the screen — likely achieved with some careful timing and coordination.

Going a bit more complex, he also created a diagram of how a storm system in the sky interacts with the air and ground below, this one also incorporated effects tied with hand gestures. 

He also had a bit of fun ahead of Halloween.

tags

, , ,

categories

Augmented Reality, Virtual Production and Virtual Sets, Broadcast Design, Broadcast Industry News, Heroes, Weather