April 14, 2018 2:54 pm

How to Watch the World’s First VR Broadcast of a Live Soccer Match Free this Sunday

If you’ve been listening to Playing with Science for just about any length of time now, you know that our hosts Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice are like kids in a candy store when it comes to the technology side of sports, and especially, virtual reality. (Check out How Technology Is Changing Football and Brain Training – Neuropriming & VR Technology).

That’s why we got so excited when we received an invite to watch the world’s first VR broadcast of a live soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Ajax this Sunday at 10:45am ET. And the best part is, you’re invited too – and it’s free!

Image of a virtual reality soccer player broadcast, courtesy of Beyond Sports.

Get closer to the action on the soccer pitch than ever before. © 2018 BEYOND SPORTS BV.

FOX Sports will broadcast the virtual simulation of the entire game and everybody else can watch the virtual broadcast via a free live stream on Twitch.TV!

The virtual broadcast will be compiling views from 25 automated individual player point of view cameras, 4 top view camera positions, and two virtual cameramen to bring you into the game like never before. Here’s what Beyond Sports, the company behind the VR tech used to produce the broadcast, has to say about it:

“The virtual cameramen will get you closer to the match than was ever possible in the real world. Experience the game as if you were on the pitch yourself. From every angle. As any player. At any time. By processing match data through our unique engine, the virtual cameramen can let you experience a fully simulated match – Live!”

If you want to find out more about how Beyond Sports is using virtual reality technology to improve training and performance in professional sports, tune in next Wednesday for our Playing with Science episode about soccer tech, when Chuck and Gary interview their CEO, Jeff Saunders.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
– Jeffrey Simons

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