Microsoft Shows Us What Watching Football In The Future Will be Like

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The biggest technology show on planet Earth, CES, took place a few weeks back in Las Vegas and one of the biggest stars of the show, was the category of augmented reality. Augmented reality, not to be confused with virtual reality, combines virtual matter with a real-life setting, instead of a virtual setting having virtual matter.

One of the leading and most innovative concepts featuring augmented reality is Microsoft’s Hololens AR Headset, a goggle-like device that can be worn to experience virtual objects to the wearer in whatever setting they’re in.

Just in time for Super Bowl 50, the company is showing us perhaps how we’ll watch football, the Super Bowl in particular, in the future. Check it out.

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The first crazy concept highlighted in the video is the use of augmented 360 degree video. A person is looking at the TV screen but the area off screen is “projected” onto the walls so you can theoretically turn around and see the entire stadium. This looks awesome but raises the question of why you’d need to use a television in the first place if you can just project the image in AR.

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The second concept Microsoft shows in the video is gesture controls to bring up a scale AR model of the football stadium to view replays. People in the video can be seen bringing up analytics and stats about the players, as well as viewing the current weather conditions at the stadium. There’s even a virtualRussell Wilson Marshawn Lynch bursting through the wall for some reason.

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While the concept looks super cool, wearing the Hololens is not. No amount of pretty people cheering in the video could make the bulky goggles look fashionable. Technology and culture usually don’t mix concretely, so the wearability aspect of the goggles may need some improving.

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(ING, Microsoft)