A new and improved sports experience through augmented and mixed reality with an incomparably immersive feel.
On your TV screen at home, in the stands at a stadium or from a court-side seat, even on your mobile device when you’re out and about – how you view a sporting event differs hugely depending on where and how it is experienced. With Holosport, Orange – innovation partner of the show -, presents a new and improved experience that combines augmented and mixed reality for a truly immersive and interactive feel.
Between virtual and reality
The demonstration on show at Roland-Garros 2019 has given spectators the chance to relive the Berdych vs Chardy match from the 2018 tournament, in a shortened version and from a completely new perspective. Yvan Delègue, Head of Orange Digital Innovation, sets the scene: “The user is provided with the Magic Leap One headset, consisting of Lightwear spatial computing glasses and a handheld Control. From the start, multiple additional 3D elements appear in the user’s live environment around the TV screen on which the match is being broadcast. Philippe Chatrier new court is reproduced on a table, positioned in front of the user, the roof opens, then practically life-size holograms of the two players appear along with their stats – age, weight, ATP ranking, etc. The match and rallies begin and are reproduced in 3D on the table. Meanwhile, the user is free to move around, get closer to the action, check whether a ball is on the line, take control of slow motion thanks to the Control, and so on, with access to match statistics at any time, and the ability to project these wherever they like. The experience ends with the user becoming a spectator, experiencing the real thing as they are transported into the stands of Philippe Chatrier court alongside other tennis fans”. This is a completely autonomous user experience that allows you to move to your preferred position, choose whichever viewing angle suits you best and take control of the action.
An experience supported by the Magic Leap One spatial computer…
How is this revolution possible? Firstly, all of the rallies from the match were reproduced in a motion capture studio so that they could be accurately replayed during the demo. Next to play a role was the spatial computing platform created by Magic Leap, which has developed one of the market’s most promising solutions based on its proprietary Digital Lightfield technology. Its product is already on the market in the United States, and Orange has entered into a co-innovation agreement with the start-up with a view to designing new uses and experiences on the basis of this state-of-the-art system. This partnership has already produced Holoparty, an experience which marks a revolution in customer relations (mixed-reality sales and after-sales service), just as Holosport marks the future of sport. The overall design of the Holosport experience was entrusted to another partner start-up that specialises in new immersive uses, Emissive.
…and boosted by 5G
Already an impressive innovation at its demonstration stage, this new form of entertainment and immersion will become even more in-depth and high-quality once 5G networks are rolled out. “A service such as Holosport will benefit hugely from the performance of 5G,” continues Yvan Delègue. “There are three reasons for this – it requires both high bandwidth and low latency, and also needs a specific and guaranteed quality of service for optimal usage, which is possible thanks to network splitting via 5G. These uses will therefore be accessible to as many users as possible, regardless of their location or device, whether they are at home or out and about in a public place, including when they are in a stadium where a sporting event is taking place”. As capture and synchronisation technologies advance, future mobile networks will also support real-time integration of these experiences.
The Holosport demonstration is just for starters…
