The Warriors "jumped on the chance to let their team be filmed" in virtual reality, and the resulting footage was "shared with the NBA office in New York, where presumably negotiations could -- and should -- begin toward making this technology available to the public," according to Al Saracevic of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Warriors co-Owner Peter Guber "watched a portion of the first quarter" of Friday's home game against the Mavericks wearing a virtual-reality device made by California-based NextVR, which is "one of a handful of companies trying to capitalize on emerging virtual reality technology." A courtside camera "provides a 360-degree view of the action," and the technology "could be a true game-changer in broadcasting." While there are "market ready versions of the NextVR available right now, the technology is still probably a year or two from mass-market adoption." Saracevic writes he "saw the future of broadcasting" when he tried on the VR goggles at Friday's game. Saracevic: "Once the game action starts and you put the goggles on, the results are remarkable. You feel as if you’re standing courtside, and you can see the players running past you. You also have the ability to control the field of vision. You can look left, right, up or down. And you don’t have to follow the ball" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/8).
VIRTUAL INSANITY: In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, John Ourand writes, "I've seen more buzz about virtual reality this year than in the previous 20 years combined." Oculus President/Worldwide Studios Jason Rubin said, “VR is very different from television. Fundamentally, 3-D was augmenting television in a way that wasn’t compelling to people. When you put on a VR device and you are there, it is an utterly different experience. It’s not a gimmick thrown on top of something that exists. It’s a very different experience when you’re there.” He added, “All of this stuff is coming together. In the next year or two, we’re going to see it all just kind of happen. It’s not that far away from us. It’s actually pretty close” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/9 issue).
