VR (Like Apple's Vision Pro) Will Revolutionize Sports "Viewing"

[Soundwave]

What do you guys think? The actual hands on for the Apple VR/AR Vision Pro headset are all over the place.

One of the demos Apple showed to people that got rave reviews was a segment where people were put courtside at an NBA game and there was another sequence where people were actually put onto the field of a baseball game (so you can't even pay for that kind of view in any other way). There was a third non-sports demo where users were able to experience Alicia Keys singing (so like a concert) except it feels like you are literally standing right beside her.

I think this could become like a third product category for sports in between going to a live event and the only other option being to watch on a flat 2D television/monitor display.

I'd honestly not have much of a problem paying a few bucks per game, especially if you had the ability to change views/seating positions on the fly and even get like "on ice" camera views.

Sure VR/AR headsets today are a bit clunky, and Apple's is especially expensive on top of that, but it's not really hard to imagine these things becoming lighter and thinner with time and cheaper too ... like a lot of tech.

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[McGarnagle]

I just want to know how much of this technology was specifically designed for porn

 

[Fantomas]

No one's gonna wear headsets.

 

[syz]

Viewing angles are better on TV. There's significantly more that goes into a live experience than the optics and VR won't be able to recreate those elements.

 

[Nocashstyle]

No one's gonna wear headsets.

You couldn’t be more wrong. Billions of people will absolutely be wearing or using headsets eventually.

 

[Ceremony]

 

[Fantomas]

You couldn’t be more wrong. Billions of people will absolutely be wearing or using headsets eventually.

nah

 

[Jacob]

You couldn’t be more wrong. Billions of people will absolutely be wearing or using headsets eventually.

Name 100 of them.

 

[Canadienna]

I watched Marques Brownlee's video on the new Apple headset. It looks amazing.

I could definitely see myself paying like 20-30$ to watch a game through the headset from ice level.

 

[Nocashstyle]

Name 100 of them.

Not sure if you’re joking or not. But it’s very obvious that’s the way technology has been trending. Look at the money the biggest technology companies in the world have been pumping into VR. It will become imbedded into everyday life eventually. Video games, sporting events, work meetings, movies, concerts…

I’m not saying I’m into it. But it’s pretty clear where this is heading.

 

[Osprey]

One of the best things about sports is the social aspect. It's fun to watch it with other people, stand up and high five them, talk to them during boring moments and commercial breaks and so on. With a VR headset on, you're mostly shutting the world out and watching by yourself. If you actually are by yourself, then that may give you the best experience, but I have a hard time envisioning viewing parties, sports bars or even just family living rooms with everyone watching a game on VR headsets.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Ever since I was a child this was something I dreamed of. Watching football games at field level, or any angle I wanted, in Virtual reality like I'm actually there. I also really wanted a system that would let the viewer pick between any camera angle that they wanted, which seems like it could be on the horizon.

My other dream for sports viewing was a broadcast that allowed the commentators to swear freely, but the other two are a bit more practical for the mainstream lol.

 

[Canadienna]

I have doubts. One of the best things about sports is the social aspect. It's fun to watch it with other people, stand up and high five them, talk to them during boring moments and commercial breaks and so on. With a VR headset on, you're mostly shutting the world out and watching by yourself. If you're watching a sporting event alone, that may be the best way to watch it, but I have a hard time envisioning viewing parties, sports bars or even just family living rooms with everyone watching a game on VR headsets.

I think that's a fair point, but I'd bet a significant portion of Hockey fans are single dudes who watch alone lol.

 

[syz]

Not sure if you’re joking or not. But it’s very obvious that’s the way technology has been trending. Look at the money the biggest technology companies in the world have been pumping into VR. It will become imbedded into everyday life eventually. Video games, sporting events, work meetings, movies, concerts…

I’m not saying I’m into it. But it’s pretty clear where this is heading.

VR will never go big in gaming due to physical limitations; a lot of people have proven to not be able to deal with it without getting nauseous which inherently limits the types of games you can make as well as the number of potential buyers.

Viewing experiences have a better shot but like I said before, the optical part of those experiences is only a part of the appeal and VR offers nothing beyond that. I don't rank it much higher than something like the 3D push from 10 years ago.

Work applications are the best bet but only as a way of furthering surveillance capitalism as opposed to it being a thing that people will be happy to do. It'll just be the (significantly) more dystopian version of having a bunch of trackers on your work laptop.

 

[North Cole]

Yeah, and then here's the live feed of the refs watching the play:

 

[Nocashstyle]

I think that's a fair point, but I'd bet a significant portion of Hockey fans are single dudes who watch alone lol.

Yeah, agreed, especially when a majority of regular season games are on random weekdays. I can’t imagine a large portion of people (not watching in person) are having watch parties on a regular basis.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Main problem with VR headsets is that the brain doesn't like the sensation of moving while the body doesn't moves. Consistent side effects of VR headset use are motion sickness and vertigo.

Seems to me this prevents it from becoming a ubiquitous technology like smart phones or televisions.

And if you can put whatever stadium angle you want into the headset, why not just put that on a tv?

 

[Nothingbutglass]

Not sure if you’re joking or not. But it’s very obvious that’s the way technology has been trending. Look at the money the biggest technology companies in the world have been pumping into VR. It will become imbedded into everyday life eventually. Video games, sporting events, work meetings, movies, concerts…

I’m not saying I’m into it. But it’s pretty clear where this is heading.

No it wont. VR headsets have been around for years and they have been trying to push people into using virtual business applications for the last few years as well. Nobody wants to use them. there will be niche market as there is now. People arent walking around the office into meetings with a headset on

 

[Soundwave]

The other question is what is the business model here.

If people are willing to pay like $10 a pop to be able to watch a VR hockey game with an on-ice view even ... that could be a decent revenue source.

It will be interesting to see how the TV broadcasters react though.

 

[syz]

 

[Osprey]

I think that's a fair point, but I'd bet a significant portion of Hockey fans are single dudes who watch alone lol.

Sure, and that's why I noted that it might be the best way to experience the game if you're alone, but the OP asked if it would "revolutionize" sports viewing. To me, that means changing the way that everyone views sports.

 

[Nocashstyle]

No it wont. VR headsets have been around for years and they have been trying to push people into using virtual business applications for the last few years as well. Nobody wants to use them. there will be niche market as there is now. People arent walking around the office into meetings with a headset on

This comment will look silly in a decade or two.

 

[hangman005]

All well and good until you break your headset trying to dodge a puck a player fired in your direction.

 

[Svechhammer]

Main problem with VR headsets is that the brain doesn't like the sensation of moving while the body doesn't moves. Consistent side effects of VR headset use are motion sickness and vertigo.

Seems to me this prevents it from becoming a ubiquitous technology like smart phones or televisions.

And if you can put whatever stadium angle you want into the headset, why not just put that on a tv?

Yeah I have an Oculus that was given to me, and the only kinds of games where I can really play are sim racing where the body is meant to be static while the world moves around you. With a force feedback wheel, you can do well enough to fool the mind that you are there, but you still get a little vertigo at times. Anything else, and the vertigo is very prominent.

Seeing the VR set from Apple, its basically the same thing, and there's no way this takes off in any meaningful ways. People aren't going to put on a sweatbox of a headset just to watch hockey when they can get a 70 inch 4k for cheaper. And hell, by the time the VR set hits the market, and isn't just a dev kit, 8k sets will be available for a reasonable price and streaming will be prominent enough that most sporting events will be available in at least 4k.

Things will change if VR sets become smaller and more easily wearable, like glasses, but until that happens, its just not really reasonable to think that this will take off. Hollywood thought 3D would take off and around 2010 all the premium sets had some kind of 3D capability. But they just didn't sell, and by 2016 Samsung pulled the capability from all their sets and everyone else followed suit to the point where the technology is now dead. And that's because people didn't want to wear this;

If that was a non-starter, so is this:

 

[Ceremony]

Not sure if you’re joking or not. But it’s very obvious that’s the way technology has been trending. Look at the money the biggest technology companies in the world have been pumping into VR. It will become imbedded into everyday life eventually. Video games, sporting events, work meetings, movies, concerts…

I’m not saying I’m into it. But it’s pretty clear where this is heading.

"Billions" of people will not be doing this, ever.