Ee, Bt Sport Debut Pioneering VR Services
EE and BT Sport have unveiled a series of pioneering 5G prototypes designed to re-imagine the experience of watching and playing sports through virtual, augmented and mixed reality applications.
The businesses said the new prototypes will enable users to engage in an event from any angle of their choosing via devices such as smartphones, tablets and TVs, as well as the latest augmented reality (AR) headsets.
The prototypes are the first outputs from an EE and BT Sport-led project, 5G Edge-XR, which demonstrates how the potential of EE’s 5G network, paired with cloud graphics processing units, can enable consumers to view events in a range of new, highly immersive ways.
EE and BT Sport said example uses include rugby match spectators being able to view real-time, data-rich AR insights such as ball trajectories, while boxing fans will be able to access immersive holographic videos that are synchronised with live TV broadcasts.
Jamie Hindhaugh, Chief Operating Officer at BT Sport, said, “EE and BT are again demonstrating the powerful creative and operational benefits that 5G technology can bring to sports and broadcast. These new experiences, which capitalise on the breadth of broadcast and mobile expertise across BT and EE, re-affirm the important role that 5G will play in re-imagining how sport is watched both at stadia and via television.”
Image: EE / BT Sport
