What They Say
The Protocol blog pointed to Covid as a prime reason for a lack of AR and VR content from the Olympics in Tokyo. USA Today had planned an AR experience around Team USA rock climber Kyra Condie. Intel and NTT-Docomo had been planning to have a number of experiences of 5G and AR. However, with the banning of spectators, the headsets are likely to remain unused.
An attempt to show all Olympic sports with 360° video has only covered 13 of the 55 sports so far. Comcast’s NBC Olympics VR app for Facebook’s Oculus Quest headset has received negative review.
What We Think
Well, Tokyo 2020 was seen as the big push behind 8K TV as well, but that has also fallen a little flat because of the dearth of channels. I’m fond of saying that when I first got access to HDTV, the ancient game of cricket was one of the sports that really benefited from the better resolution which allowed a much clearer view of the subtleties of the game. And not everybody watches sport for the sport. My late mother would have the Tour de France on the TV for long periods, with no sound. She didn’t care about the cycling but loved the aerial photography of a country she loved to visit. (BR)
USA Today’s Tokyo Olympics AR experience was produced during the pandemic. | Image: USA Today
