Augmented Reality: DFL explores new ways of watching live sport
20 August 2021 – The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga used the Supercup 2021 to take a look into the future of sports media consumption. After working on the advancement of in-stadium fan experience for many years, the DFL presented a case for the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) for the “at home” experience.
A test group watched the Supercup between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern München as an AR projection, wearing “smart glasses” and using a dedicated app. They saw the livestream of the match on a virtual TV screen and were offered additional informative elements such as real-time statistics and match graphics, as well as a “mini pitch”, showing the position of all players as a miniature 3D projection. The users could interact with a range of options and display on-demand content such as the live stats of all players (e.g. a heatmap or a player’s live speed) and 3D replays of individual scenes.
Philipp Lahm, World Cup winner and Bundesliga legend, also experienced the AR projection of the Supercup match and described it as “super-interesting, because you can call up the live stats of the individual players at any time.” He said this was helpful to better understand the game.
The pilot project was conducted to learn more about the media usage habits of the future – and to be prepared for it. Andreas Heyden, Executive Vice President Digital Innovations DFL Group, said: “We are bringing football, video and data together into an Augmented Reality environment. With the new generation of AR devices, there will be new possibilities for fans to immerse themselves in sport.”
The app utlises the ARISE platform built by Immersiv.io, a French start-up company that specialises in AR sports technology. Stéphane Guérin, Co-founder and CTO at Immersiv.io, said: “AR offers new ways to bring the live experience to the home with a personalised 3D match environment. For instance, fans can bring the players home with life-size avatars.”
Immersiv has already supported DFL and Vodafone in the development of the 5G in-stadium application. The results of the collaboration around AR will also be presented at SportsInnovation 2022.
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