The camera is set up at the top of the ski jumping ramp, enabling a viewer to see what the Winter Olympian is facing. There’s another one positioned in the kiss and cry area, allowing you to get up close and personal with figure skaters and the emotions after their performances.
A world away from PyeongChang, Intel True VR is able to capture these moments and deliver them to headsets while a viewer enjoys the warmth of home. Attending the Olympics just isn’t feasible for many, but with virtual reality, you can see the snow at your feet and control which camera angle you’re watching a figure skater dazzle on the ice.
Yes, the experience can be glitchy while watching either live or on-demand. The images captured aren’t totally clear. Yet Intel continues to deliver coverage of 30 Olympic events to broadcasters around the world, marking the largest scale virtual reality event to date. That means extending the reach of this content.
For Americans, they can watch the action with the NBC Sports VR app. It isn’t unlike previous Intel True VR coverage surrounding March Madness or Major League Baseball, and the first regular season NBA game through TNT takes place tonight.
For the Olympics, viewing events were held in Pullman, Wash., where the developers of the technology that would power Intel True VR spent time as professors. And Intel is bringing the Olympics experience worldwide, working with NHK to deliver the experience in Japan, for example.
#VR で平昌冬季オリンピック競技大会を、最前列で楽しみましょう。屋内のアイスリンクから、屋外のスロープまで、インテル® True VRによる30種類の360度ビデオをNHKで配信します。https://t.co/5Gcw4LTIAY #BTS #Olympics pic.twitter.com/iMtcGXjFmc
— インテル【公式】 (@IntelJapan) February 14, 2018
The VR experience will still need to continue to improve for the number of users to grow, and the streaming event with the Olympics highlighted that.
“We realize we’re early days from a VR-adoption perspective,” Intel Sports managing director David Aufhauser told TechRadar. “So, in a way, we’re teaching fans to VR.