Intel VR Technology Partners With NBA – Get The Best Basketball Experience

NBA fans will be highly surprised and happy with the new collaboration between Intel’s Virtual Reality technology and NBA live streaming. Intel will become the Exclusive Provider of Virtual Reality for the NBA on TNT and deliver live content for marquee matchups beginning with NBA All-Star 2018 in Los Angeles. Additionally, Intel is partnering with the NBA to become an authorized provider of virtual reality and 360-degree volumetric video with Intel freeD technology for official NBA broadcast partners globally.

Intel Sports has the idea of working with different leagues and sports organizations, to provide viewers and the audience with the best and latest streaming 360-degree technology, giving them another sight and concept of watching games, which will make sports more engaging for the next generation of fans worldwide. I, as a basketball fan, really love the project and can’t wait to see the outcome of it but that will be in February 2018, right on the 18th day of the month, which happens to be the day that the highly anticipated All-Star weekend starts. I bet that it will be a sensation among players and fans and that the experience will be thrilling. I imagine what kind of experience it will be to watch the playoff finals in every angle possible, and clearly see whether it was a foul-play or not – it will be pure joy!

Concept and technology used

The main idea of it is to offer viewers a different perspective of watching the game. The NBA is an association that has millions, if not billions, of fans worldwide and most of them, don’t have the privilege to attend an NBA game, so this is the closest opportunity. You can watch the game sitting courtside to celebrities, from a birdseye view, or from both ends of the basketball with 360-degree cameras, that have been mounted to both teams backboards. Intel can also integrate 360-degree volumetric video into the virtual reality experience using Intel freeD technology.Every virtual reality game experience will be available through the forthcoming NBA on TNT VR app on Samsung GearVR and Google Daydream headsets for download via the Oculus* and Google Play stores.

In addition to allowing fans to choose their own viewing experience, Intel will be able to use the mentioned freeD technology to integrate the 360-degree volumetric video into the VR experience, which will therefore let fans freeze a moment of game action and view it from the player’s point of view as if they were on the court.

Other leagues using this technology

Intel and the NFL have agreed to install the system at 12 stadiums, according to Preston Phillips, the director of business development for Intel Sports Group.One of those venues is Levi’s Stadium, the Santa Clara home of the San Francisco 49ers. There, Intel has installed 38 5K cameras, which together capture terabytes of data, all of which is compiled into the futuristic replays. This will be used not just for streaming but for emphasizing on game-changing moments and highlight plays, that have been captured by these innovative and hi-res cameras.

That will help fans better understand their favorite games, see how their favorite players explode off the line of scrimmage or dunk the ball, and simply get that much better understanding of how the game works. In leagues like NBA, NFL, NHL or MBL, game-changing moments and highlights are plays that happen often but we’ve mostly viewed them from one single point.

Imagine if this technology was established and able to use back in the last minute of NBA’s 1998 finals, which is the most thrilling final minute of an NBA game. If only we could view Michael Jordan’s last shot at this time with technology like that, it’d be legendary!