The weekend is here so once again VRFocus is here to bring you another edition of This Week in VR Sport. With a number of sports related virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) stories, this week has a number of topics that you are sure to find interesting. From Fox Sports investing in AR technology, the Lexington Legends expanding into VR and 2MD: VR Football coming to PlayStation VR, lets jump right in.
Lexington Legends Expanding Into VR
Major League Baseball team the Lexington Legends are looking to score big in the 2018 season but alongside the matches they will be playing the team is looking to explore new opportunities in VR and AR. Alongside a number of new attractions to help keep visitors entertained team is are setting up a VR simulation that lets users walk onto the field for themselves and try to score big. Standing at the home plate swinging for the fences, users will be right in the heart of the action and be a part of the Lexington Legends.
Elsewhere, team president and CEO Andry Shea revealed that the team have been working with a local development company to create an “augmented reality game where kids and other people will be able to participate on their phones and find player cards and stuff like that throughout the facility”. Shea continued saying “We just want to continue to reinvest in the kids that come to the ballpark, that’s what it’s all about for us is the families and the kids. We want to be able to provide as much cool and contemporary entertainment as we can.”
VRFocus will be sure to bring you more on this in the future.
Fox Sports South To Bring AR Technology To Studio Coverage
For Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast will be launching AR technology during live studio coverage, the network announced this week. The network has already carried out a soft-launch of the technology last month during their Atlanta Hawks studio shows. The aim is to use the AR solution to enhance the viewing experience by superimposing computer-generated imaging over the live broadcast.
“Enhancing the viewing experience is the number one priority in every FOX Sports event telecast,” said Jeff Genthner, senior vice president and general manager, FOX Sports South &FOX Sports Southeast. “Augmented reality is the latest addition to our many cutting edge production enhancements to fulfill our commitment in providing the very best fan experience insports television.”
The technology will be launched later this year and be included in most if not all coverage from then on. The new AR features will also be viewable during live game coverage on the Fox SportsGO app, that provides live streaming of video content direct to the user.
Recap: 2MD: VR Football Coming To PlayStation VR
In case you missed it, earlier this week Truant Pixel announced that their American Football arcade experience that puts you in the shoes of a quarterback will be coming to PlayStation VR this spring. After a release on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive last September, the PlayStation VR release of the title is a welcome addition.
Rather than a complete game of American Football, 2MD: VR Football has all the action happen in the space of two minutes in which the player must capture victory for their team. Players need to make a plan on how to score in those last moments of the match and tell their team what to do, when to throw, when to run and even take down opponents before time runs out.
Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Maher Al-Samkari,
2MD: VR Football will be releasing on PlayStation VR this Spring.
That is all for this week in the world of VR Sports. For more on immersive sport news keep reading VRFocus and remember to check back next week for another This Week In VR Sport.