Time for another entry in This Week In VR Sport. Every week VRFocus brings you a number of sports and eSports related virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) stories. This past week has seen the announcement of Ronaldinho’s own VR eSports league and cryptocurrency. The Pro Football Hall of Fame gains a new VR attraction and children dominate in tournament for MLB Home Run Derby VR.
Pro Football Hall Of Fame Adds New VR Attraction
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has added a VR tool for quarterbacks, QBSIM, at its museum in Canton, Ohio, in advance of the Class of 2018 induction ceremonies taking place on August 4th, 2018.
Ronaldinho Announces New eSports And Cryptocurrency Plan
The project also sees the development of digital VR stadiums that will analyze players skills and compile a blockchain database with which to create new teams. This will form the base of the platform that will include a marketplace and betting, expanding the offering of the project and being provided by Chinese firm NEO.
Stadiums will be developed in 300 locations around the global with facilities planned for countries in Africa, South East Asia, and the Middle East over the next three years. Stadiums in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand will be operational in 2019 and an eSports tournament is planned to be held in Bangkok in July, 2019.
As the RSC, eSports league and VR technology starts rolling out, VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest.
Children Dominate At VR Tournament For MLB Home Run Derby VR
Finally this week, children have dominated the first-ever VR league for MLB Home Run Derby VR. Four children, all under the age of 12, reached the semifinals of the competition and were able to outlast the 3,000 people of all ages who competed as part of the league’s All-Star FanFest.
The tournament has been drawing a lot of attention not just in the number of people taking part but also on Twitch and social media. During the final round between nine-year-old Chuck Smolka and another nine-year-old, the peak concurrent viewership on Twitch surpassed 120,500 count. It was also the number one video acros the whole Twitch platform at the time and was even being watched more than the likes of Fortnite.
To power the tournament a special All-Star multi-player version of the MLB Home Run Derby VR title was developed and took advantage of HTC Vive headsets. Players had only 90 seconds to hit as many home runs as possible using a proprietary VR bat controller and swing to win this heated competition. As VR tournaments continue to become more popular, MLB’s Senior Vice President of Games and VR, Jamie Leece said: “The competition’s emotion captured the essence of true sportsmanship as opponents of all ages were cheering each other on and genuinely built an immediate connection and community amongst themselves.”