Swing and a miss: Why virtual reality is striking out with sports fans
I hate to say it, but even with all of its failings, VR still has immense potential to revolutionize how we watch sports. One way to do that is to truly leverage the immersive technology of VR to deliver engaging content you can’t get anywhere else. ...
The Fox Sports VR app took a huge step toward social VR by allowing people to watch a game in a virtual lounge while talking to floating avatar heads that represent people sharing the experience. In the app, you can virtually hang out with either Facebook friends of yours or complete strangers.
Mobile VR is also on the precipice of a revolution with the introduction of standalone VR headsets. Mobile headsets like the Gear VR and Google Daydream provide you with only three degrees of freedom (3DOF), allowing you to look horizontally and vertically, but not move in a 3D space. Standalone VR headsets that require no phone, such as the upcoming Oculus Go, offer six degrees of freedom (6DOF) allowing you to move up, down, left, right, backward, and forward in a 3D space. NextVR co-founder and CEO David Cole is bullish on the potential such standalone VR headsets can have on sports. “For instance, you are watching our center court camera feed and something obstructs the camera — like if a ref stands in front of the camera — you can physically move your body and look around it,” Cole told Digital Trends in June.
See the full story here; https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/virtual-reality-sports-failures/