SANTA CLARA, CALIF.—Ready for the experience of floor level seats for this weekend’s Sweet 16 games of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament without leaving your couch? Intel will be looking to give you just that with its new multi-year exclusive partnership with the NCAA, Turner Sports and CBS Sports for Intel True VR to be the exclusive VR live game partner of the NCAA, starting with the upcoming Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games.
Intel will provide its VR experience to the upcoming slate of games in San Jose, Calif., through the new NCAA March Madness Live VR app, available now in the Oculus store. Through the app, fans can get a virtual courtside seat where they can either control the viewing perspective or opt for a produced VR broadcast in their VR headset.
Twelve camera pods with a total of 48 cameras will be used to capture the VR coverage of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games. Intel True VR will also be used during the Final Four in Phoenix, with a planned total of 84 cameras being used for coverage. In addition, Intel 360 Replay technology will capture game highlights during the Final Four using 28 5K UHD cameras.
The Intel True VR brand is a result of the Voke VR acquisition and will seek to deliver live and on-demand sports experiences, in-game highlights and produced game feeds. Voke VR co-founder Sankar “Jay” Jayaram has been tapped to lead the Intel True VR team.
The Sweet 16 games that will be available through the Intel service this weekend will include Gonzaga vs. West Virginia and Arizona vs. Xavier.
