VR/AR at the Ballgame: Saving live sports
We can use augmented reality to make live sport events alive again.

When we pay for tickets for a live sporting event we expect an experience unavailable from the living room. The chance to catch a foul ball, the off camera antics of players, and the roar of the crowd. The stadium pumps out music and announcements to pump up the audience. Cheers and boos fill the arena both on and off camera.
The NBA has begun investing in VR to provide close up action to viewers.
Want to see the latest LeBron dunk in full 3D? Pop on your Oculus rift and watch as James makes his way past the defenders for a picture perfect layup. This new form of media has made living room access to sports more engaging than ever before. The NBA’s foray into VR is the tip of the iceberg for living room sports viewing.
In eSports, Valve has created a VR viewer for their game Dota 2.
Players can use a VR interface to watch the game of Dota up close and personal. Standing in the middle of the battle field, or viewing all manner of game statistics in three dimensions. Interfaces such as this may be the future of eSports viewing.
What about a live sporting event? Augmented reality may work best.
While sitting at a baseball game, the audience is inundated with sounds and visuals from around the field. The players on the field are at times drowned out by the LED displays, announcements, and giant screens strewn throughout the stadium. While some ticket holders might enjoy these television-esque advertisements, others find them distracting.
Stadiums do their best to balance game information versus sponsorships and advertisements, but some of us still feel bombarded by marketing when we would rather be bombarded by sports statistics. After paying for a ticket to see the sport be played live, it can be disconcerting to spend hours inundated by advertisements instead of the game itself.
With augmented reality, an audience member can block out all aspects of the stadium except the play-field and the players.
Ticket holders could opt to turn “Game Mode: ON” in order to block out irrelevant information and focus entirely on the game itself. No longer do ticket holders have to succumb to an onslaught of advertisements when instead they can watch the professional players play the game they love.
Augmented audio ticket holders can opt out of obnoxious announcements and focus on the audio from the game itself.
Augmented audio can protect a user’s hearing from the roar of the crowd, whilst still letting in the sounds of the game and the crowd that we expect to hear. Listening to players and coaches communicate on the field, referees making calls, and the crack of the ball off the bat.
The play-field itself can come alive with information and statistics.
Graphical highlights can surround players who are making moves. Speeds can be displayed in real time next to the batter so focus doesn’t ahve to leave the palyfield. Player names can appear next to players whenever a user glances their direction utilizing eye tracking technology.
Augmented reality can be used to make live games more about sports and less about advertisement.
The entire stadium can be blocked out by whatever visuals the viewer chooses.
Imagine a baseball field floating among the stars, home runs flying out into the universe. Balls can be highlighted as they travel through the air. Players can be highlighted as announcers mention their names so viewers can follow the commentary. The commentary can be blocked out altogether and the raw game audio played. Experience watching the game as if you were the only viewer, or as part of the crowd.
With augmented reality, live sporting events can give viewers any experience.
Will we have to pay extra for AR access to live sporting events?
Reducing advertisements will likely lead to greater ticket cost. Sports teams could provide subscriptions to augmented and virtual reality access to their games.
There is something to be said about the quality of a sports venue when a VR/AR user would rather block out the venue for the sake of watching the game. The popularity of sporting events could be a big driver of VR and AR adoption if technologies discussed above are well designed and worth using for sports fans.
This is post 39 of my 90 VR experiment. Join me here for a daily dose of virtual reality design, gameplay, speculation, and adventure.

