philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Oculus Super Bowl party could be the future of social sports broadcasting

...but Romo walked me through how it’ll work. I’ll admit: I was skeptical going in. Now? I’m a convert. This is the gathering space of our virtual reality future. As Edward Miller, the head of visual content for the VR news platform Immersivly, put it, this could well be “the beginning of [the] social sports broadcast.”

Strapping on an Oculus headset and some headphones, I was no longer in a cramped Altspace conference room. I was in a vast, high-ceilinged modern masterpiece of a parlor. With a futuristic cityscape out the window and a fireplace crackling off to the side, the room hosted a huge TV and a massive circular seating area around it, complete with comfy-looking cushions. Come Sunday, this is where dozens of people will come to watch the Seahawks and Patriots duke it out to be the NFL’s top dog.

Directional sound

If you watched the Super Bowl in the lobby of a hotel, you might be able to barely hear what someone on the other side of the room was saying, but if someone standing right next to you was speaking, you’d hear them loud and clear. That’s how it works in Altspace’s world, too.

Plus, it’s directional: ...

Tech has some limits

The company’s tech does have some limits. Because of the demands of processing all the audio and users’ voices, Altspace can generally handle only a few dozen people in a single space. Romo said he hopes for the Super Bowl, they’ll be able to get 75 together seamlessly. That means they’ll be running numerous instances of the Super Bowl party to accommodate everyone who wants in. Today, there’s 2,000 people on Altspace’s waiting list, but this weekend, it’s opening its doors to everyone.

See the full story here: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/30/oculus-super-bowl-party-could-be-the-future-of-social-sports-broadcasting/