Competitive sports are not the same without fans. Unfortunately, because we are experiencing a global pandemic with a coronavirus thriving in mass gatherings, having fans in-game in person is not exactly possible right now. But that doesn’t mean that professional sports leagues are ready to restart their seasons without them. So They are doing something about it.
The National Basketball Association, which will restart its season on July 30 after lay off in March because of the virus, has announced which Microsoft Teams will use to project more than 300 fans live on the court during games. Guest fans will appear on 17-foot video screens and be able to interact with each other, which according to the association will give them the feeling of sitting next to Each other in live games without leaving the comfort and safety of their homes.
This new initiative will also allow players sensation Energy and fan support, the NBA said. That is an understandable wish. It must be strange to play on an empty court after playing in front of people all your life.
Sara Zuckert, NBA boss following gen Telecast said the association was excited to present its new fan experience, where it had worked with its streaming and technology partners.
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“Our goal is to create a pleasant and immersive experience where fans can interact with each other and maintain a sense of community as we restart the season in these unique and challenging circumstances,” Zuckert said in a statement. statement.
The new fan experience use a recently released Microsoft Teams feature called “together mode”. When Microsoft Introducing the new feature in early July, the company described it as a way to make business meetings more attractive by “helping you focus on other people’s faces and body language and making it easier to capture the non-verbal cues that are so important to human interaction. “
Together mode uses AI segmentation technology to digitally organize the meeting, or in this case the game, to participants in a shared environment. According to Microsoft, this makes people feel like they’re sitting in the same room as everyone else in a meeting or class. Launch the typical grid of frames that we are used to in video chat through the window. Instead, the together mode seems like you’re looking at the whole group in one virtual mirror With a unique background.
In addition, the NBA said that all viewers will be able to impact the visual effects in the arenas through “virtual cheers”. Fans can virtually cheer on their favorite team through the NBA app and website, as well as with hashtags on Twitter. The NBA said it will put this virtual mood on screens “with graphics and animation” that capture the love of fans.
Ignoring the American current get scared On Chinese-owned TikTok, the NBA also said it would feature videos that answered TikTok’s challenges. The association will also use Snapchat soil segmentation lenses—Which uses augmented reality technology to change users’ environments, for example, turning the floor into lava— for fans to explore an official virtual rendering basketball court in Orlando, Florida.
The NBA is using a “bubble” strategy to resume your season, meaning all games will be played on one of several arenas at the Walt Disney World Resort complex. Twenty-two teams will play 88 qualifying games, after which the top 16 will advance to the playoff format. Family and friends will only be able to enter the arena after the first round, when there will only be eight teams left.
Basketball is not the only sport that struggles to bring fans back. The edge reports that Fox Sports decided to do something similar to what the NBA is proposing but for Major League Baseball games. However, in the Fox experience, virtual fans only appeared when the broadcast shifted to an angle facing the garden. The seats behind the house plate were empty. The result? Fans appear and disappear during broadcasts.
Other MLB teams are allowing fans to buy cardboard cutouts of their own to place in the stands. But the quiet and still cutouts of cardboard are No coincidence for home runs, which can be dangerous for them, as you can see in the clip below.
Honestly, when I first saw the photo that Microsoft previously shared, I originally thought it was a pretty innovative idea. So I saw this, which led me to the same conclusion that others we have reached: It is a little weird.
But with that said, it’s hard to criticize this seemingly sincere effort to make the sport as normal as possible while trying to be safe during a pandemic. And who knows? Perhaps this is better than the Fox experience. Having your people there supporting you, even if it seems a little strange, is probably (again I’m not a player here) better than playing in an empty arena. However, in general, it is clear that for a time we will have to learn to live with the virus. So let’s try to get as close to normal as possible while staying safe.
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