You can compete in the Olympics eSports Series by playing a $1 baseball game
The International Olympic Committee is holding an esports event this year, but it includes unorthodox games like Konami's WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros.
Reclympics, A New Rec Room Event, Turns Games Into Medal Sports
Rec Room is hosting the Reclympics, a new event running until September 4 that sees some classic Rec Room games turned into medal competitions.
The event will give Rec Room players the chance to compete against each other while repesenting one of eight Rec Room regions, to “keep the Olympic torch and spirit going” within the Rec Room community.
There are seven Rec Room Olympic sports that players will be able to compete for a gold, silver and bronze medal, available at specific times between now and September 5.
Stunt Runner, for example, will become a solo Olympic obstacle course where you’ll races others for the fastest time. There will also be Archery, Laser Tag and Dodgeball events, along with Discus Throw and Ultimate Frisbee. And of course, what would the Reclympics be without one of Rec Room’s most classic games, Paintball.
The events are only available for limited windows, with 4 hour slots at set days across the next few weeks. Here’s the full schedule and registration deadlines:
– Archery: August 21, 11am – 3pm PST (registration closed)
– Dodgeball: August 22, 11am – 3pm PST (registration open closed)
– Ultimate Frisbee: August 15, 11am – 3pm PST (registration open until August 23)
– Paintball: September 4, 11am – 3pm PST (registration open until August 23)
All of the events will take place in a custom-built coliseum, and will be livestreamed to YouTube.
Users won’t be representing their country in the events, but one of eight Rec Room regions instead – Painball Plateau, Rec Room Main Campus, Cyberjunk City Limits, Creator Commonwealth, Isles of the Lost Skulls, Crimson Bog Swamp, Goblin Kingdom, Frontier Island.
After choosing a region to represent, players can sign up for events — only a limited number of players per region will be selected to compete in each event, selected by the community team staff. Prospective applicants must be over level 30 and be in good moderation standing.
You can read more about registration and the details of each event over on the Rec Room site.
The Olympics opening ceremony was filled with video game music
The 2020 Summer Olympics started its opening ceremony with iconic video game music.
Racket: Nx Takes First Step Towards Olympic Glory With Official IRF Endorsement
The pinnacle of sporting achievement for most athletes is winning a medal at the Olympic Games. It’s also a badge of honour if a new sport is recognised and accepted into the Olympic Program. Whilst there’s still a way to go until that happens, One Hamsa’s Racket: Nx has taken an important step towards that goal, receiving an endorsement by the IOC (International Olympic Committee)-recognised International Racquetball Federation (IRF).
The first time a virtual reality (VR) videogame has received an official endorsement of this kind, One Hamsa and the IRF have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). They’ll collaborate to develop Racket: Nx as an Olympic Virtual Series sport with the eventual aim to fully approve Racket: Nx as a full l discipline, thus making it a candidate for the Olympic Games.
“Racket: Nx is an immersive, skill-based and fully athletic experience, that opens the gate for players of all racquet sports–not only racquetball–to play full out inside a lighted, player-responsive, sound and music-filled dome, in a game that is as unique as it is engaging,” said One Hamsa Studio Director Assaf Ronen in a statement. “Racket:Nx has over 150,000 players connected overall PC and mobile VR platforms, including the fastest-growing VR headset, the Oculus Quest 2 and is available around the globe, including the emerging Chinese VR market. That means that this game is more likely to achieve the mass acceptance that the IOC seeks.”
The Olympic Virtual Series was unveiled earlier this year and ran from May through to June. It featured five games simulating Baseball, Cycling, Rowing, Sailing and Motorsport but only two were physical (Cycling & Rowing) and none were in VR. Should Racket: Nx eventually join this group it’ll add another highly physical element to the roster.
“This is a marriage made in future-sport heaven: a world-class developer and a unique, successful, and wonderful game, with a fully global international IOC-recognised sports federation, that has the vision and the grit to not just see around the corner but to go there. This is a major opportunity, as there are more total racquet sports players in the world than soccer players,” adds Virtual Sports Association CEO Victor Bond who helped broker the deal.
Available for Oculus Quest and PC VR headsets, Racket: Nx is known for its highly energetic gameplay. Players find themselves inside a futuristic dome where they have to smash a floating ball into the wall to score points as quickly as possible to progress through the waves. Gameplay is augmented with various tiles like wormholes, so they need to listen to audio cues to hear where it’ll appear next. Last month One Hamsa released a new update adding a level builder enabling players to create and share their own designs.
As further details regarding Racket: Nx’s Olympic aspirations are revealed, VRFocus will let you know.
The Olympics Are On Oculus Quest But Only For USA Network Subscribers
The Tokyo Olympics will present some live and full event replays on Oculus Quest but only to pay-TV subscribers in the United States who have USA Network as part of their video package.
The app is called NBC Olympics VR by Xfinity and the majority of reviews for the app are 1-star due to the restrictive availability of content. The description for the app says it’ll have live and replay coverage of the Opening and Closing ceremonies as well as certain sports like Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Track & Field, and Gymnastics. It is also said to have “additional VR features” which include “3D VR” with watch parties for a few Oculus Friends. The app says the “additional VR features” will be available to subscribers with planned sports including Artistic Swimming, Sailing, Cycling, Golf, Equestrian, Rowing, Diving, Canoe/Kayak, Skateboarding, Softball, Baseball, Climbing, Surfing, Table Tennis, Triathlon, and Shooting.
This isn’t the first time the Olympics have appeared in VR to varying degrees — some of 2018’s Winter Olympics were shown in VR as well. For example, you can check out the Opening Ceremonies from 2018 below in a 180-degree video:
The live presentation in VR of major sports is not generally worth watching due to various roadblocks that are still in place. The problems start with the initial capture of content, with specialized cameras and placements needed alongside computational systems that don’t exist at the scale necessary for individual sports, let alone a multi-sport mega-event like the Olympics. NextVR , for example, was one of the leaders in capturing and presenting wide field of view live sports content like basketball in 3D, but the startup got bought by Apple and we still haven’t seen what its technology might be used for at the company. In addition, streaming and broadcast rights cause major headaches for viewers who generally have to jump through hoops to see even a small amount of content that’s been captured specifically with VR in mind.
The Olympics start on July 23, 2021.
International Olympic Committee will host a forum to discuss adding esports
The International Olympic Committee and the Global Association of International Sports Federations will hold a forum in July to discuss potentially including esports in the Olympics.
The post International Olympic Committee will host a forum to discuss adding esports appeared first on Digital Trends.
C360 Camera Technology Used In Televised Broadcasts Of Olympic Games
We’re always eager to have live broadcast television content available in virtual reality (VR). Whether it’s 3D movies, 360 degree videos, or panoramic experiences, VR can open up traditional media formats to a wide range of different kinds of experiences. Future proofing the kind of content we can get through broadcast channels, C360 Technologies is now putting their high end 360 degree and VR cameras to work during the Winter Olympic Games.
It’s a massive boon to the company to be able to work with at the Winter Olympic Games, and the technology is sure to come in handy. As we all probably know by now, Intel is powering the streaming technology to bring the Olympics to VR head-mounted display (HMD) owners the world over.
This continues the business plan outlined by C360’s CEO Evan Wimer last year; “Since the inception of our company, we’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best organizations in the world, integrating C360’s technology into sports telecasts viewed by international audiences.”
This year, Wimer has said more on C360’s new opportunity, and shares his excitement at having C360’s technology used on a world stage; “We are extremely honored by the opportunity to bring an added viewing dimension through our camera technology to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. We believe in the value that immersive video can bring to traditional sports broadcasts, and the PyeongChang Olympics is perfect event to introduce our newest GEN2 Immersive Camera System camera to a global audience.”
C360 Technologies’ cameras will be used during events such as short track speed skating, figure skating and hockey. There will be multiple cameras providing unique viewpoints for each sport, delivering content in live streams around the world or for on demand streams later. Should you want to watch the games yourself in VR, make sure to investigate which broadcaster holds the rights in your region. Many Europeans will be watching Eurosport, while American friends should look at the NBC Sports VR app.
Watching the Olympics in VR will make the experience much more immersive and interesting for many users – we know for a fact that we’ll be tuning in to our favourite events through VR displays. For all of the latest on VR sport and technology, make sure to keep reading VRFocus.
U.S. Olympic Athletes Are Using Virtual Reality to Train for Events
U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association, the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding, announced a partnership with Menlo Park-based STRIVR Labs to use VR to help prepare for and recover from World Cup and Olympic events.
According to the association, both 360 video and VR are being used “in multiple ways in competition, from inspections of the race course, helping athletes learn the lines they will race through, to helping athletes rehabilitate from injuries.”
Troy Taylor, High Performance Director at U.S. Ski & Snowboard says that due to limited time on the course, athletes that use VR have a distinct edge on the competition.
“The clear advantage of VR is that it is a great way to help athletes get more used to and learn specific courses, which is an obvious performance benefit,” says Taylor. “The implementation of VR is also part of a larger strategy of US Ski & Snowboard’s High Performance department to embrace the leading edge of technology and innovations to equip our athletes with the latest tools to aid their performance.”
“The feedback we have from our athletes suggests that the biggest benefit of using VR is building confidence,” Taylor explains. “They feel they know the courses they will race on better, so when they come to ski on it during a race they enter the start gate with an increased confidence level. That is a big part of competition, having the confidence to attack parts of the course where you can find time, so that’s a clear benefit.”
STRIVR, which has provided similar VR training regimes for teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, has given what U.S. Ski & Snowboard describes as “mental access” to each course their athletes compete on, providing a clearer internal map for the positions of gates, terrain, the way the turns appear—the sort of things that make athletes more confident.
The post U.S. Olympic Athletes Are Using Virtual Reality to Train for Events appeared first on Road to VR.
Intel Give VR Update At CES 2018, Reveal Intel Studios
When you think of virtual reality (VR) the chances are you think of the main hardware manufacturers. The likes of Facebook owned Oculus with their Oculus Rift head mounted display (HMD), of HTC and the Vive – and now by extension the HTC Vive Pro. for console VR the PlayStation 4’s headset the PlayStation VR – sometimes referred to as the PSVR and the mobile VR stakeholders Google and Samsung with their Daydream View and Gear VR smartphone-based HMDs respectively.
One company you would probably not think of immediately is Intel. Yet, Intel had a very productive 2017 when it came to immersive technologies and whilst they may not be one of the hardware gatekeepers – they actually cancelled their own all-in-one effort before launch and shuttered their augmented reality (AR) brand – they have certainly been amongst the headlines. A fact we’ve discussed recently on VRFocus.
They’ve been involved in the Academic Purpose VR bundle, being involved in the hosting of VR videogames and arranging tournaments at a number of gaming and eSports events, in particular the VR Challenger League. Have spoken positively about their thoughts for VR’s future, collaborated on a mixed reality (MR) tool, and an awful lot more. So it is only natural that when the time came for their keynote address at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that VR would certainly be a part of it.
Whilst time was, understandably, taken to address some of the security concerns raised by the “Spectre” and “Meltdown” security vulnerabilities are being addressed. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich also gave an update as to where Intel were with regards to their VR ambitions.
They began with the reveal of Intel Studios, a brand new, dedicated state-of-the-art studio powered by Intel’s own True View technology creating the world’s largest volumetric stage. The company also announced they already have their first major partner for the stage in the form of Paramount Pictures, itself experimenting with bringing its properties to both VR and AR over the last year.
Krzanich also gave an update regarding Intel’s partnership deal with the Olympics to provide 5G, VR and 360-degree technology up to 2024. Revealing that the upcoming Olympic Winter Games for 2018 in PyeongChang were to be the largest scale VR event to date. With thirty events being captured for broadcasters and footage also being broadcast live.
“If you are impressed by what you see at CES this week, stay tuned,” Said Krzanich his closing remarks to the keynote. “We are still discovering new ways to apply the power of AI and data. These discoveries will impact nearly every sector of innovation, and Intel is at the forefront of this revolution, bringing to life the promise of data-driven experiences through autonomous driving, AI, 5G and VR. At Intel, we not only see a world of infinite possibilities where technology makes our lives easier, we see a future where technology makes the world a better place.”
VRFocus will bring you updates regarding these developments as they are revealed.
2024 Olympic games in Paris could include esports events
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris could include esports for the first time in an effort to attract a younger audience to the event. A final decision will be made by 2019, and it isn't clear which games would be included.
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