By Meghna Murali
With advancements in the technology setting the bar higher every day, the sports industry has been reaping its benefits. According to the reports of the 2017 edition of PwCs annual Sports Survey, the global sports industry is undergoing more disruption than ever. This is due to a technological shift to virtual and augmented reality and the rapidly evolving sponsorship market. With virtual reality, as a concept, gaining momentum, will the sports industry have dramatic changes in the upcoming years?
How does virtual reality work?
Virtual reality made its appearance in the year 2016. Its promising nature made it one of the largest trends in technology. All one needs is a virtual reality headset and an app to experience the feeling of standing in the stadium and cheering for his or her fans, with the comfort of staying home. The concept of virtual reality emerged in the late 1990s. Although it failed to make an impact at that time, its reappearance has been a game-changing experience for the sports industry.
A virtual reality headset is a head-mounted device which is used in applications such as simulators and trainers. It encompasses a stereoscopic head-mounted display, stereo sound, and head motion tracking sensors. The head-mounted display enables the production of separate images for each eye. Some headsets also contain eye-tracking sensors, gaming controllers, and accelerometers. The aim is to create a three-dimensional virtual environment with no boundaries. Televisions and computer screens generally restrict their images and prescribe a definite boundary. Thus, when a person mounts on the VR headset, the screen mounted to his face follows him. Videos are sent via an HDMI cable to the headset from a computer console. The lenses can be adjusted to match the distance between the users eyes. The lenses perform the function of focussing and reshaping the picture for each eye. This creates a stereoscopic 3D image by angling the two 2D images perceived by the human eye. In order to enhance the experience, a lot of sports events use 360-degree cameras to capture and stream sporting events in virtual reality.
Athlete training gets a whole new makeover: Virtual reality training programme
Virtual reality can be applied to various domains in the sports industry. Recent applications include training of athletes. Virtual reality has proved to produce excellent performance improvement in professional athletes in a short span of time. The use of 360-degree cameras in the sports teams practices enables the athletes to be exposed to thousands different obstacles and eventualities. A group of specialists monitor the foot movement, posture, composure, timing and decision-making ability of the athlete under diverse circumstances. Players are also exposed to real-life simulations in order to enhance the training experience. Thus, virtual reality, as a technology, allows the training of multiple sensory and muscular organs without any scope of injury. This ensures the longevity of the athletes.
Is virtual reality effective in recreating real-life experiences?
Virtual reality has been gaining popularity slowly. A lot is yet to be discovered in this field of technology. Recreating the feel of being present in a real life match is an extremely challenging task. In 2017, the Spanish startup company, FirstV1sion, incorporated smart wearables. This was done to offer videos from various perspectives at several sports events the user. The HMD (head-mounted display) consisted of a microphone and additional sensors that monitored the player’s health status. Companies are striving to improve VR technologies. Beyond Sports is another start-up company that specialises in collecting player data from soccer matches. This creates 3D simulations of the game. A user wearing a VR headset is free to roam around anywhere in the stadium and view things from the perspectives of players, fans, or officials. Virtual reality comes as a boon to the sports industry when it comes to evaluation of matches. Players can replay the game and analyse it from various perspectives.
According to reports, we are still 10 years away before we can see true virtual reality with a proper video. Virtual reality may be a fun concept. However, many users dislike the use of computer-generated graphics. The use of virtual reality headsets produces a dizzying effect.
The use of virtual reality in the Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games is generally conducted in far-off destinations and is expensive to attend at the same time. Even after getting a ticket, the chances of watching your favourite athlete performing his or her act with a clear view amidst the crowd is bleak. As usual, the announcement of using virtual reality to view the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang raised peoples expectations. Samsung set up nine virtual reality pavilions to enable visitors to participate in a virtual competition. STRIVR allowed athletes to assess their performance and preparedness. It allowed players to ‘mentally prepare for the race’.
The viewers got to witness the Winter Olympics in a whole new dimension. The NBC sports app, in collaboration with Intel and Olympic broadcasting services, broadcasted more than fifty hours of live events ranging from snowboarding to figure skating. They also provided prerecorded clips. While some enjoyed the experience with the comfort of watching the Olympics at home, some sulked at the computer-generated images of the headset. Although virtual reality headsets are available at much cheaper rates than before, it has not reached the stage where it can transform large-scale events like the Olympics for the general masses. The resolution of the virtual reality videos was substandard and it was extremely difficult for some users to identify the faces of athletes. The Winter Olympics was filmed using 180-degree cameras. The usage of 360-degree cameras would have enhanced the users’ experiences. Secondly, the positioning of the cameras at the site of the event was wrong, which produced blurry images of the event.
Thus, virtual reality still has a long way to go. A few corrections here and there can make a huge difference. With various companies sponsoring and supporting virtual reality as a concept, one can probably witness the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo with the best of virtual reality technology!