AUGMENTED REALITY IS GOING TO BE HUGE FOR LIVE SPORTS

Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 4, 2016

This Sunday it's Super Bowl 50, so it's time to start getting ready for the big game! As a 49ers fan, however, my enthusiasm for NFL has understandably somewhat dwindled compared to previous years. Let's face it, the 49ers sucked this season! Thankfully my misery will soon turn to joy as I have some good news to report. Microsoft will soon get Hololens into the hands of us consumers, and when they do - it will be a game changer, literally! Augmented reality (AR) headsets, like this one, will soon make experiencing live sports events, such as the Super Bowl, a totally immersive and awesome experience. 

This two minute ad (below) shows how HoloLens will be able to project virtual images across our entire living rooms; from floor to ceiling. Videos will be rendered in 360 degrees, so a person looking at their TV will theoretically be able to turn round and see the entire stadium around them, almost as if they're actually there at the game, in person. Of course, once the device is placed on your face, the TV will be made almost redundant. This is because the downside of AR and Virtual Reality (VR) is that currently you need to wear clunky headgear for it to work. This means that guests who arrive at your Super Bowl party without the necessary kit will miss out on the enhanced viewing experience. Instead they will have to watch the game the old fashioned way, so don't dispose of the old box just yet. Another reason why TVs won't become extinct any time soon is that some people just aren't that into it. The two main reasons for shunning VR/AR are that it can cause motion sickness, and wearing a visor can, and usually does, make you look really silly. Just to put this into perspective, HoloLens is one of the less ridiculous-looking wearable devices. There are many others out there that are far more aesthetically challenged, and that's putting it mildly!

In addition to being enveloped by sound and vision, HoloLens will also offer gesture control, which could be used to summon replay footage, and access stats and other content such as weather conditions within the stadium. Oh, and presumably we'll all be forced to tolerate irritating embedded advertising messages that call out our names, like in the movie "Minority Report" featuring Tom Cruise. 

Perhaps my least favourite part of this video is when virtual avatars of Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch enter the living room by bursting through a virtual wall. As a 49ers fan, however, if I was there to experience that game via HoloLens, I would have relished the opportunity to push them both off the field, and out of my virtual living room. As you can probably tell, I'm not a fan of the Seahawks!