Virtual Reality Sports Viewing Now Possible?

Virtual reality or VR has long been imagined by product developers and fans, and now, it seems like the technology is closer than ever to becoming available to the general public.

The Star reported that NextVR is working on a product and a number of major sports leagues are trying the new technology so that they can collaborate when it becomes functional. NextVR has been working with the NBA, NHL, the Masters, NCAA football and the Premier League, among others to come up with a virtual reality sports viewing headset.

Brad Allen, chairman of NextVR, said, "There is this mad kind of race to get everybody into VR. I can speak from experience - every sports league, team, corporate America, sponsors and broadcasters. You name it, they all want to have a VR strategy. Because they know this is coming and it is totally disruptive."

In the past years, virtual reality has been a technology that has garnered a lot of attention but has yet to succeed. Now, the availability of new devices make the approach more feasible. A lot of headsets at present use mobile phones to provide the images. In March 2015, Oculus VR was reportedly purchased by Facebook to allow fans to watch NBA and NHL games from virtual courtside and rinkside seats.

Yahoo! Sports reported that NHL had a virtual reality pilot project where NextVR captured 360-degree HD footage from the Stadium Series. Technology from both NextVR and Samsung GALAXY Gear VR were used to make the "head-mounted displays", streaming game footage. OTOY, a Cloud graphics company hosted the footage. OTOY used a 6000 frame rate and is planning to add a special light-field camera for future tests. The footage can also be used on smartphones and tablets where users can navigate through the streaming footage.

John Collins, COO of the NHL, said about the goggles, "It was wild. I could turn around and see a person sitting in back of me.

Collins added in the same Yahoo Sports report, "That was the thing that was pretty cool about it: It was a live experience," said Collins.

He continued, "There's going to be a technology soon where you're going to be sitting at home and pick where you want to watch the game. You could be sitting at home and still watch it from your seat. Imagine if you can watch the game somewhere other than the blue line."

Chronicle Bulletin reported that sports teams are also looking into virtual reality headgear as a means of preparing their players for various situations on the field or court.