First Alert Weather Sphere bringing VR to Chicago weather forecasts

CHICAGO (CBS) — CBS News Chicago is debuting a new 3D tool to help provide viewers with a better view of weather forecasts, though virtual reality and augmented reality in the new First Alert Weather Sphere.
From the days of using drawings, with cloud and sun cutouts, to green screens, and now entire virtual reality studios, technology is allowing meteorologists to change the way they alert people to changing weather and keep them safe.
The First Alert Weather Sphere includes not only 16-foot green screen walls, but a green screen floor, which weather technology fills in with graphics for everything from maps, radar images, wind speeds, temperatures, and more.
“How viewers at home consume the weather and watch the weathercast is changing. So we’re changing right along with it. With Weather Sphere, we can give our viewers the clearest view of the weather of anywhere in Chicago,” CBS News Chicago meteorologist David Yeomans said.
The 1,200 square feet of green space that make up the First Alert Weather Sphere are combined with state-of-the-art virtual reality and augmented reality technology to provide viewers with an immersive experience, and a clear view of the weather.
“I think some of the most important storytelling that we do here are the days leading up to those higher-impact events – winter weather, tornado outbreaks, flooding events. And this kind of technology allows for, not just myself, but other meteorologists to show exactly what the weather patterns are doing, how things are changing, and more importantly how it can impact you at home; whether it’s the morning commute, the evening commute, or even your weekend plans,” CBS News Chicago Chief Meteorologist Albert Ramon said.
The Weather Sphere technology is proprietary to CBS, and every week developers are adding more data and technology so it can continue to grow in the months and years to come.