Formula E driver caught using a pro gamer in virtual race
Many sports have switched to virtual contests due to the coronavirus pandemic
Life In 360°: An Electric Archive (Part Three)
It’s time to continue once again with our trek through the archives of the ABB Formula E Championship for all their 360 degree videos. Of you read Life In 360° on Monday or Friday last week you’ll know two things: 1) that we’re currently going backwards in time through all of Formula E’s 360 degree content and 2) that’s a lot of content.
But, unlike Formula One they seem to have stopped producing 360 degree videos so the amount does seem to be finite.
We ended last time with a pit stop at the Paris ePrix and the next one along is one that we’ve already featured on Life In 360° once before. So if you want to see that, click here.
Highlights – Formula E (Long Beach ePrix)
“Experience Formula E’s race highlights from Long Beach, presented to you in 360 degrees! On a mobile device just tilt or use your finger to swipe around. On a desktop or laptop, click and drag! You can watch overtakes and spins, go onboard as they take to the historic shoreline track.”
Mexico City Onboard Race Start – Formula E
“Experience Jean-Éric Vergne’s first lap of the inaugural Mexico ePrix, as the racers gets to grips with the unique Formula E configuration at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez track.”
Highlights – Formula E (Mexico City ePrix)
“Highlights from Mexico City, presented to you in 360 degrees! You can watch overtakes and spins, go onboard with Jean Eric Vergne, Salvador Duran and Antonio Da Costa.”
World’s First 360° Sports Highlights – Formula E (Buenos Aires ePrix)
“Experience the DS Virgin garage as Sam Bird wins the race, and see the podium celebrations from the press pit as Sam, Sebastien Buemi and Lucas di Grassi spray the champers.”
HUGE Nelson Piquet Crash in Punta del Este
“Towards the end of the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix, DS Virgin Racing’s Jean-Eric Vergne made a lunge up the side of NEXTEV TCR’s Nelson Piquet, and from that point the action really hotted up.”
Incredible Beijing Race Start Onboard
“Ride onboard with Stephane Sarrazin in this 360° video on the first lap of the Beijing ePrix!”
Putrajaya Race Start & Crash Onboard
“Ride onboard with Oliver Turvey in this 360° video on the first lap of the Putrajaya ePrix! You can choose to look forward, back or sideways!”
Life In 360°: An Electric Archive (Part Two)
We’re continuing our look at Formula E’s archive of 360 degree content today with another selection of videos as we look to add more to the ones we featured on Monday, not to mention those that we have featured previously on Li360. Most notably the video where someone somersaulted over a Formula E car as it drove at them. We ended part one with Sam Bird driving (well, being escorted is probably the right words) down The Strip in Las Vegas.
This time around we’ve got some beginnings and ends of races as well as some behind the scenes event footage.
Onboard Demo Of the New Formula E Car In 360º
“Sit onboard the Formula E car with driver Michael Benyahia at the Marrakesh street demo.”
Formula E 360° Moments: Marrakesh Race Start
“We give you an unique insight into the world of Formula E with our 360 Moments. This week we take a look at the start of the first Formula E race held in Africa!”
Formula E 360° Moments: Marrakesh ePrix Podium
“Stand on the podium and watch the drivers celebrate the results of the Marrakesh ePrix!”
Formula E 360° Moments: Hong Kong ePrix Race Start
“Watch the cars race off up at the gantry where the race lights are controlled!”
Formula E 360° Moments: Hong Kong ePrix First Corner
“Watch the cars race into the first corner at the Hong Kong ePrix, some drivers making contact and others jumping up the field!”
Formula E 360° Moments: HKT Hong Kong Podium
“We give you an unique insight into the world of Formula E with our 360 Moments. This week we experience the joy of the season opener podium celebration at the sold-out Hong Kong ePrix.”
DS Virgin Garage Tour With Sam Bird And Nicki Shields
“Nicki Shields shows you round the DS Virgin Racing garage with the help of Sam Bird, in our first 360° video tour!”
ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport Pit Stop
“The pit stop changeover can be the difference between winning and losing. With Lucas Di Grassi leading the Paris ePrix, experience the pressure and tension in a unique 360 video as we step inside the ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport garage.”
That’s all for today’s Li360 on VRFocus, but there’ll be more, of course, very soon.
Life In 360°: An Electric Archive (Part One)
There’s a number of 360 degree videos in the fire for Life In 360° and one of them is our next visit to the world of Formula One. There’s a good few races worth of official offerings to get through, especially after last Sunday’s race at Suzuka, Japan. However, before we get to that I thought it best we have a look at another sport we’ve touched on at least once: Formula E.
For those of you not familiar with Formula E (or the ABB FIA Formula E Championship to use its full name), it’s an electric-powered racing series that is arguably one of Formula One’s most legitimate long-term rivals. With the fifth season beginning in December in Saudi Arabia, it’s already had more incidents, action and even controversy than arguably a decade’s worth of F1 in that time – and features some names you may well be familiar with if you’re a long-time F1 fan.
Names like Di Grassi, Vergne, Nelson Piquet Jr, Nick Heidfeld, Buemi and Felipe Massa are all a part of the grid, of which the 2018-19 season sees 11 teams take part. Including ones from Audi, Nissan, BMW and Jaguar.
While F1 has embraced the use of 360 degree technology as part of their coverage, Formula E has gone off it a bit and haven’t released an official video in a couple of years. So, that being said it seems like a good idea to just go through their archive of videos for a week and get the whole kit and kaboodle (or caboodle) covered.
Let’s begin shall we?
Monaco Tour & Onboard Hot Lap With Bruno Senna
“Ride onboard in 360 degrees with Bruno Senna as he gives us a quick rundown of the tech specs of a season 1 Formula E car, before hitting the track for a quick lap of Monaco. Explore the iconic Monaco circuit in 360.”
Race Star At Julius Baer Mexico ePrix 2017
“Watch from the pit wall as Oliver Turvey leads the field at the beginning of the Julius Baer Mexico City ePrix 2017. Jack Nicholls runs through the driver positions on the grid, before the drivers move from the dummy positions into their grid boxes. Then watch in 360 as the lights go out and the cars scream down towards a very tricky turn one…”
Explore Formula E’s TV Gallery In 360°
“Today we’re in the Formula E live TV gallery during qualifying for the Buenos Aires ePrix. This is where Formula E broadcasts the race to hundreds of countries across the world. Watch to see what goes on during a race session in this behind the scenes 360 video.”
Buenos Aires ePrix First Lap In 360°
“We give you a unique insight into the world of Formula E with our 360 Moments. This week we take a look at the first lap of the Beunos Aires ePrix from the start line, Turn 1 and Turn 4!”
https://youtu.be/3Vg_ztINhEY
Overtakes Compilation In 360° (Turn 4 – Buenos Aires ePrix)
“Jack Nicholls guides us through every Turn 4 overtake from the 2017 Buenos Aires ePrix, including many overtakes that weren’t seen on the TV broadcast!”
360° BMW i8 EV Dream Drive: António Félix da Costa
“Ride onboard across the Nevada desert as Andretti’s António Félix da Costa gives us a unique insight into the mind of a racing driver.”
Formula E Hits The Strip In Las Vegas! (360° Behind The Scenes)
“Ride onboard with Sam Bird driving down Las Vegas Boulevard whilst filming our promo for the Visa Vegas eRace.”
We’ll have another six or so videos later this week on VRFocus
Virtually Live and Enova Partner For Formula E VR Racing Experience
Racing experiences tend to work very well with virtual reality (VR) as it gives users a high-adrenaline experience while the car cockpit/dashboard provides a point of stability that helps prevent simulation sickness. Swiss company Virtually Live and Enova Holdings Ltd are hoping to take this to the net level by partnering to create the Formula E Ghost Racing Live experience for the Chinese market.
Formula E, or more officially, the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, is a class of racing that aims to be a bit kinder to the environment in that it uses only electrically-powered cars. The first championship ran in 2014, and since then it has developed a dedicated following.
Virtually Live and Enova Holdings are aiming to create a VR experience that will allow fans to participate with races in real-time by letting players virtually compete against the professionals during Formula E events.
Markus Tellenbach, CEO of Virtually Live said:” We are excited to announce this strategic partnership with Enova allowing our ghost racing app to be introduced in the world’s biggest gaming market. Our unique live experience will enable millions of Chinese motorsports fans to participate in the live action of Formula E, the most innovative motorsports series in a fully immersive and unparalleled experience. Our cross-platform application aims to reach the full potential of Chinese motorsports enthusiasts as well as both core and casual gamers.”
Bob Li, CEO of Enova said: ”We are pleased to establish this partnership with Virtually Live and look forward to introduce the Formula E ghost racing experience to the Chinese gaming community.”
The two companies are initially aiming at the Chinese market due to the size of the available market, which is often cited as the biggest games market in the world, counting 619.5 million players and also due to China’s connection with Formula E, since the first ever Formula E was was run in Beijing in 2014.
For future coverage on new and upcoming VR projects, keep checking back with VRFocus.
This Week In VR Sports: Virtual Data Offers New Opportunities
It’s time for another entry of This Week In VR Sport as one again VRFocus brings you a number of sports related virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) stories. This week there is a theme of data being used to drive new experiences with Formula E and Virtually Live offering the chance to race against drives in real-time. FOX Sports reveal their Fifa World Cup VR offering and Beyond Sports announces the end of a successful seed funding round.
FOX Sports Unveils VR Options for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia
Ahead of the upcoming Fifa World Cup in Russia, FOX Sports have revealed a number of different options for viewers to enjoy all the coverage of the event. With 64 matches to enjoy over the event period, there will be plenty to watch and enjoy. Across the FOX Sports App and FOXSports.com, the ‘World Cup Everywhere’ will be the main focus on Match Center, Highlight Machine and Team Channels. For fans of VR though, FOX Sports will be making all 64 matches available in multi-angle, social VR.
Introduced at last season’s Concacaf Gold Cup, FOX Sports will once again team up with LiveLike on bringing a social VR offering to viewers. This includes custom suites and three immersive, multi-angle VR feeds from each of the 64 matches.
FOX Sports’ Highlight Machine, presented by Adidas, will deliver all the highlights to viewers with a one-of-a-kind technology ensuring viewers get the best highlights from each match. By leveraging cognitive highlight and artificial intelligence (AI), users will be able to create their own highlight reel by year, team, player, matches or play type, with the ability to share the highlight to social media.
Elsewhere, viewers will be able to enjoy coverage of matches both before and after each match, views of matches from a ‘tactical view’ camera position high above one of the goals, a birds eye view of matches and around 448 additional hours of coverage across the length of the event on a number of FOX Sports platforms.
Beyond Sports Closes Seed Round Investment
Dutch based AI and visualization company, Beyond Sports, which offers VR, AR and MR products to the sports sector announced earlier this week that it had secured $2.36 million (USD) in seed round financing. Driven by their passion for sports and science, the company works to offer solution that use real match data to create virtual simulations of real sports matches, allowing viewing from any perspective, including a players point of view. The technology is designed for use by athletes, coaches, and clubs for training and review purposes with broadcasters able to leverage the technology to offer immersive experiences for fans.
The funding was leg by industry investors including David Blitzer, Seth Bernstein, Alan Goldfarb, Art Wrubel, Eric Aroesty, Scott Krase, Joshua Press and Matt Harris as well as Triple IT, a Dutch based technology company. The money will be used by Beyond Sports to grow its product development team and expand into additional sports and the healthcare markets, primarily within North America.
‘‘Our proprietary visualization engine has been successful in bringing cognition mapping, tactical training and immersive experiences to the forefront of the sports industry. Clubs, leagues, broadcasters and fans are benefitting from player tracking data in unique ways through our VR and AR based solutions” says Jeffrey Saunders, CEO of Beyond Sports.
As Beyond Sports bring to grow their business and expand their product, VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest.
Complete Against Drivers In Real-Time Thanks To Formula E And Virtually Live
The ABB FIA Formula E Championship has announced a partnership with Virtually Live to create a world’s first in eSports by offering fans a chance to race against Formula E drivers in real-time. This opportunity is being made possible thanks to a new ground-breaking live ghost racing application which will be able available across multiple platforms, start with mobile and PC, with full VR integration coming in the future.
By using cutting-edge telemetry and Virtually Live’s proprietary technology platform, allowing a race to be recreated digitally in real-time. The action mirrors the position and order on the track precisely, with options available for fans to clip and share their experiences, achievements and near-misses on social media. This also means they can post their times after a race and claim fame and glory in the ghost racing scene. The new experience allows fans the chance to live the thrill of the race while competing against their favourite drivers.
Markus Tellenbach, CEO of Virtually Live, said: “Having partnered with the ABB FIA Formula E Championship since season two, providing CGI content of races to the world feed and to fans on the VR App Stores – we’re delighted to have signed a strategic long-term partnership with Formula E to provide the world’s first live ghost racing app. Combining the worlds of exciting street racing and gaming, with our innovative immersive technology, Virtually Live and Formula E are defining a new era in esports and engaging and building the fan base. The ghost racing app will allow fans to consume Formula E throughout the year on multiple platforms and share their experiences on social media. We therefore look forward to seeing fans of all abilities – whether a casual gamer on their mobile to an ambitious driver in VR – pitting their skills against the Formula E drivers and their friends. We would like to thank the FIA and Magneti Marelli for their assistance and vision in supporting the partnership.”
You can sign up to be one of the first to play this new title over on the Formula E website and in the meantime you can see it in action in the below video.
That is all for This Week In VR Sport. For more on immersive sport news keep reading VRFocus and remember to check back next week for another This Week In VR Sport.
This Week in VR Sport: Formula E Driving Experience, PGA Tour Expands Coverage and 360 Video at Singapore F1 Grand Prix
It may be a busy week for videogame events, with the Tokyo Games Show (TGS) 2017 going on in Japan, the VRDC expo taking place in California and EGX 2017 being held in Birmingham, UK, but that doesn’t mean to say VRFocus’ weekly roundup of news relating to sport and virtual reality (VR) has gone wanting. This week features Red Bull and Virtually Live with a Formula E driving experience, 360-degree coverage being tested at the recent Singapore F1, and if you missed it, the PGA Tour and Intel will be expanding their immersive coverage of golf.
Virtually Live Launches Formula E VR Driving Experience at Red Bull Media World
If you’re heading to Red Bull Media World at the Verkehrshaus der Schweiz, Luzern, anytime soon then you’ll be able to check out a new VR experience by Virtually Live which place guests in the drivers seat of a Formula E race car.
The company has partnered with the FIA Formula E Championship to recreate races in VR using last Season’s Paris ePrix race track, allowing them to compete over 2 laps to beat Renault eDams driver Sébastien Buemi’s fastest time.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Red Bull Media World to provide visitors to the Verkehrshaus der Schweiz with a cutting edge VR driving experience, showcasing our relationship with Formula E,” said Oliver Weingarten, Director of Motorsport at Virtually Live in a statement. “Virtually Live has been recreating Formula E ePrixs live in immersive VR by ingesting the live telemetry from the drivers’ cars. This has enabled us to give fans a unique opportunity to compete in VR against Sébastien Buemi’s fastest lap at last Season’s Paris ePrix. We look forward to seeing who comes out on top early next year.”
“The level of detail and realism in the “Virtually Live Driving Experience” is incredible,” commented Sébastien Buemi. “This is a really innovative experience, which allows me to engage with my fans, at the same time as giving them the experience of driving my Formula E car in VR around the Paris ePrix track.“
The driving experience will be available until 31st January 2017. For those unable to attend download the Virtually Live Formula E VR App, and experience Season 3 ePrixs in VR with complete freedom of movement, where you can go anywhere on the track during the ePrixs; including the perspective from inside any driver’s car, but also have the chance to drive and set your own lap time.
Tata Communications Trials Live 360 Video at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix
Last weekend the 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix took place with Tata Communications and Formula 1 trialling a live 360-degree video feed and TV broadcast in complete sync.
It’s quite common for there to be a 30-second delay between the 360-degree video and live TV feeds which in a fast paced sport like F1 can mean all the difference.
Tata placed two 360 cameras at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, one trackside and one in the paddock. Via the Official F1 App fans could use their tablet to access a live 360º video feed from the paddock and see the biggest names in the sport. Or, during a race, as a driver pulls into the pits for a tyre change, fans could complement the action on TV with a 360º view of everything that is happening in the pit lane in real-time.
“We’ve done this test to show how a fan could watch Lewis, Sebastian or any other drivers coming into the pits on TV, grab their tablet and get a second, completely in sync 360º view of everything going on around him while he is there – not 30 seconds after he has driven off!,” said John Morrison, Chief Technical Officer, Formula 1. “In a sport like F1 where every millisecond matters, there are huge opportunities to empower fans to take control of key Grand Prix moments and create their unique, personalised race experiences through the powerful combination of live TV and 360º video.”
“This proof of concept shows the potential of live 360º video to augment the F1 TV viewing experience and bring VR mainstream in live sports and entertainment,” said Mehul Kapadia, Managing Director of Tata Communications’ F1 Business. “Eliminating the delay in 360º video means that, for the first time, it’s possible to offer fans truly live 360º video experiences on a global scale. This will enable sports and entertainment organisations to engage with their audiences in new ways and generate new revenue streams – helping the 360º video and VR market achieve its USD $60 billion potential.”
PGA TOUR And Intel Expand Immersive Golf Coverage
And just in case you missed VRFocus’ coverage earlier this week, the PGA Tour and Intel are continuing thier partnership by bring golf fans more immersive coverage over 2017/18.
The expansion will see six PGA Tour events being broadcast in 360-degrees, beginning with the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta this month, followed by the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club from 28th Sept. – 1st October, then the Waste Management Phoenix Open and THE PLAYERS, both in 2018.
All the action can be viewed through the PGA TOUR VR Live app available for free on Samsung Gear VR. If you happen to miss the live broadcast the content will also be available on demand following each event. Live and on-demand VR and 360 video coverage of the TOUR Championship will showcase holes 1, 15 and 18, beginning 21st September 2017.
Watch the Action of Formula E in VR with Virtually Live
Last year the FIA Formula E Championship teamed up with virtual reality (VR) company Virtually Live, allowing fans to watch renderings of the races. That partnership has continued into the current racing season so that viewers can see several of the latest races.
Updating its Formula E VR app, Virtually Live allows fans to revisit the races from Marrakesh, Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Monaco, using HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.
At the recent Qatar Airways Paris ePrix, footage supplied by Virtually Live was used to highlight the collision between Jean-Eric Vergne and Nelson Piquet Jr. from the previous race in Monaco.
Ali Russell, Formula E’s Director of Media, said in a statement: “At Formula E we always want to be at the forefront of broadcasting technology, pushing the boundaries of how our sport is delivered to our fans. Virtually Live offers an amazing new way of viewing the races and this is just the beginning of our aims in this area. Live streaming through Facebook Live and Periscope also helps us to get the passion and excitement of the series to a new generation of potential electric racing fans.”
“It is exciting to push technology boundaries and innovate with Formula E. We are delighted to bring fans updated content alongside new features to our Virtually Live-Formula E App, including the ability to not just be able to stand anywhere on a race track, but also to be able to drive around it, and get a good perspective and understanding of the chicanes and straights in a unique city-centre race track. We have also provided fans without VR headsets the ability to enjoy a second screen experience on PC, giving fans new angles to watch the race that are beyond the limits of the TV cameras, as was shown in today’s world feed,” added Virtually Live’s Director of Motorsports Oliver Weingarten.
The Virtually Live app is available as a free download for both headsets. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Virtually Live, reporting back with the latest announcements.