The festive season is almost upon us, whether you plan on going away, seeing family/friends, or just stay in cosy in front of the TV or fireplace. The last thing you might consider is going out a playing some sport – but there are those that do. And for those sport fanatics that like to keep abreast of the latest advancements VRFocus brings you a weekly dose of VR in Sport.
Kindred Futures Announces Mixed Reality Project With Zappar
Kindred Futures, the innovation arm of Kindred Group, has announced a new project with mixed reality (MR) specialists Zappar, looking at creating a new way for consumers to explore sports data.
The two companies are exploring the way sports are watched and data is consumed by building prototypes based on high profile sporting matches such as the 2017 Champions League final and T20 cricket between South Africa and England.
When gambling viewers currently have to trawl through tables of data provided by broadcasters to help make their sporting decisions, Zappar gives users control in an immersive experience where they can explore the team’s players, with insights into their goals, shots or runs – putting the user at the heart of the data. The two demos, powered by data from Opta, look to give an insight into what the future holds for interacting with sports data, all using Zappar’s ZapBox.
“Kindred Futures has always been committed to seeking out the most interesting and innovative companies to explore the future of gambling,” said Will Mace, Head of Kindred Futures. “Our largest brand, Unibet, has the tagline “Luck is no Coincidence” and this exploration with Zappar allows punters to discover and interact with data like never before – leveraging Opta data to provide insights that can help them make more informed decisions. We’re very passionate about ensuring that audiences are given enough data to make sensible gaming decisions and think that our experiment with Zappar is an exciting step in the right direction.”
“The main barrier of getting mixed reality to the mass market is the cost of new hardware. There’s an exciting future of data visualisation, with mixed reality providing an immersive and engaging way to both view and interact with information. This exploration is all part of our goal of democratising this technology. We’re very excited about partnering with Kindred to see how we can drive innovation and bring the future closer to today,” added Jeremy Yates from Zappar.
Sports Virtual Training Systems Reveal Simulation Platform QBSIM
Sports Virtual Training Systems (Sports VTS) has announced this week that it has built proprietary technologies to help train quarterbacks without risk of injury, an immersive simulator called QBSIM.
QBSIM is the first product from Sports VTS, allowing quarterbacks to throw an actual football directly into a VR environment, developing the enhanced skills and in-game instincts required to succeed on the playing field. So by simulating a real game environment, QBSIM ensures that virtual training inside the simulator leads to real results on the field.
“Sports VTS will redefine the world of sports training by allowing athletes to practice in complex, simulated scenarios that train both the mind and body simultaneously,” said Ted Sundquist, CEO and Founder of Sports VTS, and former Denver Broncos General Manager. “We’ve combined revolutionary technologies at the forefront of Virtual Reality with decades of experience preparing professional athletes, creating a system that allows a team to fully develop EVERY quarterback on their roster in a realistic, game speed environment and without the risk of contact injury.”
“It’s difficult for young quarterbacks to develop and be ready to succeed in the NFL without a great deal of game experience,” continued Sundquist. “QBSIM makes every day a Game Day. We create a full simulation that requires reading defenses, calling audibles, and throwing an actual football under pressure from a realistic pass rush. And just like on Game Day, the accuracy of the throw determines completion, incompletion or interception by the actions and reactions of virtual players.”
Sports VTS will launch its first product, QBSIM in early 2018.
