For the first weekend of March VRFocus brings you another edition of This Week In VR Sport. With new technology being used to provide viewers with virtual reality (VR) highlights and augmented reality (AR) statistics, Real Madrid are creating VR content and a new VR solution to practicing football drills. This Week In VR Sport is all about the beautiful game.
La Liga Bringing 360 VR and AR to Football Matches
Spain’s professional football league, La Liga, have set up a partnership with Intel to allow fans to have access to more content then ever before. This includes 360-degree replays and AR statistics all thanks to the new technology that is being brought into stadiums. Thanks to 38 cameras placed around the outside of a stadium and using software to stitch the series of videos together, this results in a multi-angle view of highlights that viewers can explore at their own pace. This is further enhanced thanks to the SkyCam which hangs directly above the pitch and is also brought into the content available to viewers.
Viewers will also be able to take advantage of what La Liga is calling the ‘Laser Wall’ which is a graphic overlay for statistics and even draws lines to help explain key moments during a match. The technology is also hoping to help reduce any controversies and/or conflicts that may occur by providing even more viewpoints for replays to be reviewed. La Liga is also considering releasing post-match content that would allow viewers to explore a matches highlights in their preferred angle, rather then watching what is delivered by the TV production team. On top of all this there are continued developments in the VR area to allow viewers a virtual room experience, in which they can watch a match, view details and become fully immersed in the moment.
Real Madrid Launch VR Channel
Continuing the news of Spanish football, Real Madrid have launched their own 360 degree and VR channel as part of The Dream VR app platform. The club plans to release monthly content on the channel, offering fans “a first-hand insight into the Real Madrid experience, which to date has been available to very limited number of fans.”
The Dream VR app is one of the largest VR networks with over two million downloads across 180 countries. Real Madrid will be the first football club to release content onto the app and have their own VR channel. As more football clubs continue to explore the possibility of VR content and with Real Madrid taking the step forward, it is highly likely that more clubs will follow soon and begin creating their own channels.
The Dream VR app is available to download now on mobile device (iOS and Android) and smart televisions as well a number of VR platforms including Google Daydream, Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear and HTC Vive.
Mi-Hiepa Sports Might Be The Future of Football Drills
Mi Hiepa was announced a few months back but has recently been showing off what it can do for players at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. Designed to allow coaches, managers, scouts and sports directors a rapid, standardised and measurable solution to train and review their talent pools. By taking advantage of VR technology the program allows both new and existing players to train in a number of live drills and track their results and progress all within virtual space. This is done thanks to the HTC Vive Pro and tracking units which allows for pinpoint accuracy in the tracking to ensure that players have a lifelike, full-body experience within the virtual space.
Not just aimed at finding new talent though, the solution is also designed to allow for cognitive coaching, rehabilitation, performance reviews and skill training. You can see a demotion of Mi Hiepa in the below video.
For more on immersive sport news keep reading VRFocus and remember to check back next week for another This Week In VR Sport.
via Mint VR