BONN, GERMANY—Sports production at its best can give viewers –if even for a fleeting moment—the feeling that they’re part of the game.
Deutsche Telekom and MediaKind extended that immersive feeling with the help of 6K tiled 360-degree video to viewers via the Magenta VR app on Dec. 9 when the Telekom Basket Bonn met EWE Baskets Oldenburg on the hardwood at the Telekom Dome in Bonn, Germany.
“Consumers are always seeking new ways to experience their favorite sports content. Through the rapid evolution of 360-degree technology, we have the potential to push boundaries and take the consumer to the heart of the game itself,” said Angel Ruiz, CEO of MediaKind.
[Read: Samsung, USA Basketball Team Up On VR]
The multi-camera, 360-degree live stream was delivered to Deutsche Telekom customers via the company’s Magenta VR service on a consumer app. Technical project management was handled by MediaKind, which worked with Deutsche Telekom, Magnum Film, Tiledmedia, Iconic Engine and INVR. Magnum Film shot and produced the event in 360-degree video.
The coverage was the latest milestone in a collaboration over the past year and half between MediaKind and Tiledmedia to demo 360-degree viewport adaptive ClearVR video and supplement traditional broadcast production, bringing viewers closer to the action. “The success of this world first live sport event using 6K 360-degree video with ClearVR tiled format is a major milestone for our team of engineers and our partners who turned this around in a short space of time,” said Ruiz.
MediaKind’s virtualized software encoding technology was deployed in the Google Cloud Platform. MediaKind’s software-based probes were used to monitor every point of data traffic flow and cloud processing operation. They also created customizable and detailed operational dashboards using common cloud visualization tools.
Deutsche Telekom’s T-Labs research team sponsored the event.
More information is available on the MediaKind website.
