Every weekend VRFocus brings you a number of sports and eSports related virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) stories as part of This Week In VR Sport. This week, Nex Team are using the latest AR technology of Apple’s flagship smartphone to help basketball players improve their game. The VR driving simulator T3R has confirmed it will be attending the Tokyo Game Show and PlayStation announced Everybody’s Golf VR for the PlayStation VR.
HomeCourt Uses AR Technology For Basketball Training
During the recent reveal event for the new iPhone X models, an app by the name of HomeCourt was showcased. This new iPhone app leverages AR technology to track basketball shots which can in turn be used to help players improve their shots. Thanks to Apple’s new A12 Bionic chip and artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed by HomeCourt maker Nex Team, the app can detect a hoop and basketball and is able to measure kinematics, trajectory, release times, and the number of shots made.
During the presentation former NBA star point guard Steve Nash and Nex Team founder David Lee took to the stage to reveal the app and demonstrate it’s feature set. A number of people are investors in HomeCourt including Nash himself along with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeremy Lin, and Philadelphia 76ers Sam Hinkie. A number of college basketball programs are also using the app to help their teams improve as well.
The app is another great example of Apple’s continued investment and development within the AR sector and how they want to position their products to be able to enable apps such as HomeCourt.
VR Driving Simulator T3R Is Coming To The Tokyo Game Show
Middleware technology and videogame developer Silicon Studio announced earlier this week that they will be attending the upcoming Tokyo Game Show to showcase their VR driving simulation, known as T3R.
The T3R VR diving simulator makes use of a racing chair in combination with a realistic dashboard and wheel layout, along with 360-degree spatial images and 4-axis motion technology to offer the most authentic driving simulation possible. To help with this immersion the simulation leverages the popular racing videogame Assetto Corsa, from developer Kunos Simulazioni, which is known for its impressive realism and player immersion.
The Tokyo Game Show will be opening next week with its business days taking place on 20th-21st September, with restricted access to press and those working in the industry. Attendees will be able to try out the technology for themselves along with seeing demonstrations from the staff which will talk through the functions and implementations of the technology. VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on this as it developers.
Everybody’s Golf VR Announced For PlayStation VR
To finish up this week how about a round of golf? Well the good news is that earlier this week PlayStation announced Everybody’s Golf VR. This new release is being developed by Clap Hanz in association with JAPAN Studio and will be the first time that the popular golf franchise makes its way to VR.
Planned to release sometime in 2019, players will be able to immerse themselves in the world of Everybody’s Golf and use their Dualshock 2 or PS Move controller to swing the virtual golf club across a variety of courses. This also makes the title much more accessible as players now use their body to control the gameplay. On top of that, thanks to the 360-degree field-of-view players will also be able to see uneven terrain, read wind direction, and experience the nature of the golf course in impressive first person.
For now, not much more has been revealed about the title but at least PlayStation VR owners and fans of Everybody’s Golf can get excited. VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the title in the future so make sure to stay tuned for more.