The connection between virtual reality (VR) and the world of sport remains strong. For those unaware every weekend on VRFocus we bring you a round-up of various stories from around the world that revolve around how the worlds of sport and immersive technology collide, and it is surprising just how many different sports have been touched in some way by VR.
In the most part This Week In VR Sport does not involve videogames, but the same is certainly true here. With many different sporting competitions now represented through some form of gaming experience. One sport receiving a number of experiences in recent months is boxing. We brought you news back in January of how Floyd Mayweather Boxing + Fitness Gyms were introducing VR training schemes at their locations, Oculus Rift videogame Boxing Apocalypse took the fight into space and as recently as GDC 2018 Survios’ Creed: Rise to Glory took to the ring.
Now we’ve another boxing title to add to the mix – but this time it’s not a VR boxing experience, but an augmented reality (AR) one for iOS, and powered by Apple’s popular AR development platform ARKit. The videogame in question is Glowing Gloves, a first-person immersive boxing title which has just entered closed Beta testing. It is being developed by Bublar, which VRFocus last reported on back in November when they launched AR social application Placie.
“We’ve created a new control experience unseen in any mobile game.” Says Bublar Game Studio Director Wictor Hattenbach. “Start your career at Franky’s authentic gym and experience the highs and lows of a boxing career. Play against your friends but choose wisely, since each opponent will differ, testing your skill and fitness levels.”
Bublar CEO Magnus Granqvist added, “With Glowing Gloves, we’re showing how Augmented Reality can create a brand new player-vs-player experience in mobile gaming. In this case, by placing your opponent right in front using real-time motion tracking.”
You can sign up for the closed Beta on the Glowing Gloves website, which confirms the developers have no planned release date as yet, with them currently keeping a ‘ready when it is ready’ mindset. You can see a short preview trailer below. VRFocus will bring you more news about the development of the title as we get it.