The Olympic Games have always been a hot bed for experimentation around new camera capture and broadcasting technology. Now the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) has confirmed that they will be capturing virtual reality footage at the Olympics.
Using a compatible headset, viewers will be “virtually transported to the heart of the Olympic action with VR coverage including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and one key event per day,” says the broadcaster. With the Olympic Games running from August 5 to August 21 and participation from over 206 National Olympic Committees, there should be plenty of action to immerse yourself throughout the big event.
VR footage will be broadcast live and will also be made available for download. Whether or not the broadcast will be made available through a standalone app or something like a Gear VR app has yet to be announced. But OBS says that highlights of its VR footage will also be viewable without the need of a VR headset, meaning videos most likely will be shared on the web via a VR player, something like YouTube 360 or Facebook 360.
Live-streaming in VR continues to pick up steam as more companies jump into the game and the demand for unique access to prominent events grow with consumers. On Monday, NextVR and FOX Sports announced VR live-streaming during March Madness, just after inking a five-year partnership to broadcast a range of top sporting events live in virtual reality.
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In the same announcement, OBS said that they will also be partially filming the Olympic Games in 8K “Super-Hi Vision.” Now we know pretty much nobody actually owns an 8K television, but luckily we should all own some sort of VR headset by August – so i’m sure we’ll see you in there for the Opening Ceremony.