Startup Creates Virtual Reality Stadium
Sports fans could soon be able to put on any virtual reality (VR) headset to watch games in a virtual stadium with friends, after a San Francisco-based startup created a virtual stadium, playable with Samsung Gear VR.
The startup, LiveLike VR, has worked with Premier League side Manchester City on a demo of its VR stadium, and users can now download the demo app and get their own private and customisable VR suite, where they can invite friends to watch the match together.
The full app launches in 2016, with the initial version running as a 2D view in VR, but the company aims to partner with other companies to be able to deliver a 360-degree feed of live streaming events in the future.
Andre Lorenceau, CEO and founder of LiveLike VR said his team are working on a platform that will allow users to invite friend from Facebook into their suit, with each avatar having a lip-synced voice. Future in-game features will include a table hologram where stats can be mapped over NFL players and highlights from past games can instantly be called up.
“Sports is not about being ‘on the field’ for the whole game, it’s about being able to hang with your friends, doing stuff while there’s a two-minute timeout, seeing replays, stats, and more,” said Andre.
“We are also focused on infrastructure, with building the capabilities to connect with friends or strangers, multiple ‘channels’ to watch from, statistical interfaces. There’s a whole system that needs to be created before we watch sports in VR, and we’re getting close to finalising that.”
“It’s a vision of the future, but when you control the world around you, like in VR, it’s actually feasible and we have the team capable of building this,” Lorenceau added.
“The setup is as simple as installing wide-angle lenses to existing cameras and streaming the content through LiveLike’s virtual luxury box and VR platform,” Lorenceau says.
“LiveLike also enables broadcasters to deliver their content in new and engaging ways, allowing them to get more ‘bang for the buck’ as they pay more than ever before for sports content rights.”
VR rights currently fall under the umbrella of live streaming, but in the future Lorenceau believes leagues will sell separate VR broadcasting rights once there’s a mass installed base of global VR headsets.
The original article appeared here
