A startup that enables fans to create their own virtual living rooms has won the second BT Infinity Lab competition. The winner, Sceenic, will now have its services trialled by British sports channel BT Sport for potential use.
The service works by users logging on and creating a private room in which they can watch soccer. They can invite their friends and family to this room and can see their reactions on-screen and also chat, while the match is also on display. The creators say that their technology can also be integrated into existing over-the-top (OTT) solutions or TV box sets and their primary aim is to have customers like BT Sport and other broadcasters.
With their win, Sceenic will also receive six months’ membership at TechHub, a shared working space.
In an interview with UKTN, before his company won this competition Sceenic CEO Paul Bojarski, explained where the idea came from.
“In 2013, I was running digital for MTV and they relocated me to Argentina but my parents were back in London. The Volleyball World Championship finals were taking place and Poland was playing against Brazil. My dad rang me to watch it together. We started over the phone and eventually opened a video chat app to see each other and it was magical, even opening beers together as we watched the same match despite being 13,000 miles apart. That’s how the idea was born.”
Sceenic beat out competition from a number of other finalists. These included Spectral-Edge, which has technology helping people who are colorblind to modify colors on their TV screens, and Alchemy Data, which analyzes fans’ habits to try to predict future online behavior based around sporting events.
“Sceenic reflects what BT Sport is all about, which is bringing our audiences into our content, driving engagement and being a broadcaster that speaks with our fans,” BT Sport chief operating offier Jamie Hindhaugh said a statement.
“The idea came from me trying to watch sport over distance with my dad,” said Bojarski in a statement. “We’re about togetherness, and BT has so much live content it will be amazing to test our technology with its users.”
The previous winner in this competition was Seenit. This app sees fans uploading their reactions to live TV sports coverage, before and, since winning, has been integrated into the Premier League Tonight highlights show on BT Sport.