The BBC is to offer key events during the Rio Olympics in the virtual reality format.
It’s launching BBC Sport 360, an experimental service designed to give viewers a new perspective, through coverage of a range of live sports, including the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, beach volleyball and boxing.
The BBC Sport 360 service starts on Friday 5th August through a dedicated BBC Sport 360 trial app, available from Thursday on Android, iOS and Samsung Gear VR.
Coverage will also be available online through its incubator platform BBC Taster, allowing people to try, rate and give feedback to help the BBC learn from the experimental service.
Justin Barritt, Executive Product Manager, BBC Sport, said: “The BBC delivered the first truly digital Olympics for London 2012 and we’ve continued to develop and improve our digital service ever since. Now, we’re pushing the boundaries once again to bring people closer to the action than ever before. Not everyone can make it to Rio to cheer on Team GB so we’re looking forward to giving sport fans the next best thing.”
New content will be added daily with around 100 hours available in total.
Will Saunders, Editorial Lead, BBC Taster, said: “This is a hugely exciting next step in our 360 and virtual reality experiments. There’s huge potential for immersive video in sport coverage, as well as many other genres, and we want to explore that potential directly with audiences. That’s why we experiment out in the open, so people can tell us what works, what doesn’t and whether there’s an appetite for more. We can’t wait to hear what people think.”
The BBC Sport 360 service can be viewed on devices compatible with Samsung VR headsets or on a low cost mobile VR headset using Android or iOS smartphones.
