The Sports Industry is being Revolutionized with Virtual Reality

Ben Dickson from Crunch Network discusses the revolution of the sports industry with the use of Virtual Reality. Check out this great read!

How virtual reality is transforming the sports industry

After a failed stint in the 1990s, virtual reality made its reappearance last year with headsets such as Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift. But this time, it’s here to stay and, in less than a year, it’s already drawn attention and investment from venture capitalists and tech giants such as Facebook, and has made huge impact across a great many industries, including sports. Sports is one of the domains where technology is being put to use in the most effective and aggressive way. We’ve already become used to the presence of augmented reality (AR) in sports. Think about watching football without the projected first-down line or hockey without puck tracking. Now, with the sudden leap that VR has taken recently, the sport experience is being amplified and becoming more immersive in nearly every possible field, ranging from consuming content to training and recruiting athletes. Here’s how VR is revolutionizing sports, starting with the fan experience.

Viewing sporting events in VR

Something that is being seen a lot lately is the use of 360-degree cameras to capture and stream sporting events in virtual reality. This is a boon to all those sports fans who can’t afford the luxury of flying half the world in order to see their favorite teams and athletes perform. In most cases, a VR headset and an app is all you’ll need to be taken to the stadium to look around for yourself as the action unfolds, all without leaving the comfort of your home. This is the most realistic experience you get from viewing a sporting event without actually attending in person. The Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games kicked off with the promise of solid VR coverage by broadcasting networks such as NBC and BBC — a first in Olympics broadcasting — viewable with VR headsets through their respective apps. VR broadcasting still being in its experimental stages, the only catch was that, but for a few exceptions, the events weren’t streamed until the day after they took place. Hopefully, the next Olympiad will see more live VR streaming. [Continue Reading..]