A future in which NFL games are broadcast in virtual reality comes with plenty of challenges. There’s a large field of play to cover, plenty of data to process, and even as higher-resolution devices can make the live experience watchable, there’s the question of if such an experience would be dramatic for the average NFL fan.
But the NFL live in VR is getting closer to happening. NextVR recently did a test of a live game that inches the ball forward, and Intel True VR after helping with the NFL’s live tests as early as last season was showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this week as a solution for the league, marking just the start of what could be achieved.
The presentation during the keynote from Intel CEO Brian Krzanich included the example of a user wearing a headset to watch a Kansas City Chiefs-Los Angeles Chargers game. With multiple data streams, the user could look left to see how his fantasy team was doing. A green circle around the fantasy player meant that he was on the field while flashing icon signified a bump in fantasy points.
In that virtual experience, there was a logo for Intel True View — rebranded from Intel freeD — that appeared alongside a fantasy player in San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. Clocking on that enabled the user to watch a 360-degree highlight of Goodwin catching the ball that was overlaid on the Chiefs-Chargers game. Intel True View has delivered immersive replay capabilities in 11 NFL stadiums this season. In the future, events in the NFL can be seen concurrently in immersive environments.
“The first time I experienced virtual reality, I was in an office here at the NFL,” William Deng, Director, Media Strategy and Business Development at the NFL, said in Intel’s video presentation at CES. “I put on the headset, and all of a sudden I was standing in the corner of the end zone. A receiver caught a touchdown pass, ran towards me, and I physically felt the need to move out of the way. I then heard the crowd behind me. I then physically turned around to look at the crowd. That was the moment that made me realize that this was something different.”
Intel True VR and NextVR currently provide postgame highlights in virtual reality, but clearly more is coming.
“Intel and the NFL have been exploring ways to provide fans with more immersive ways of enjoying the sport,” Krzanich said. “And as the technology advances, we’re going to explore a variety of opportunities to create immersive experiences that are tailored to the individual viewing habits.”
As part of Intel True View, the company has already unveiled Be The Player at last year’s Super Bowl, enabling viewers to get a virtual view of what quarterbacks Tom Brady and Matt Ryan could see from their eyes. That’s achieved without the use of helmet cams. Rather, pixels with volume called voxels are stitched together thanks to cameras around the stadium to provide viewers with these unique views.
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, now a CBS analyst, joined Krzanich on stage to demonstrate how this technology was helping fans. A virtual view of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco’s view of a pass attempt in which he had to thread the needle between a cornerback and safety was used.
“There’s not any other technology that would show you how tight this throw was and how difficult it was for Joe,” Romo said. “This allowed you as a viewer to really go right there and be Joe Flacco and you could be like, ‘I can’t believe he’s making this throw. There’s no window there.’ You get to appreciate the ability of that guy at that moment. At the same time, you’ll be able to go back and nitpick and be like, ‘Not a good job, Joe. You’re throwing it to the other guy.’
“For me, the specialness comes from Be-ing The Player,” Romo added.
“Nothing else can do that without putting a camera on someone’s head, and that’s why I think you’re going to feel like you’re back playing football again for some of the people who would have made it to the NFL but you had that knee injury.”
Said Deng in Intel videos of the immersive media that the company provides: “There’s a great opportunity to use technology to show different perspectives, to show what a player is thinking or maybe seeing when they execute a play. And I think those things are really unique and bring something richer to the experience.”