5G and the Arena of the Future for XR Events

The vision for this IBC Challenge was to leverage 5G's high-speed connectivity to deliver a truly innovative and interactive live XR sporting broadcast event across multiple platforms, locations, and fan accessibility mediums in both physical and virtual worlds, bringing to life the creation and consumption of live content via a broadcast that is immersive, inclusive and a social experience for audiences

A bespoke, unified space was created to combine a virtual, layered 3D metaverse-style arena with a physical sports grounds, to demonstrate locality, player interaction and a next-gen audience entertainment experience using 5G, augmented reality and 360-degree spatalised audio elements.

The goal was also to provide a hyper-personalised experience for both players and fans via 5G low-latency for real-time gameplay telemetry exchange, motion capture for live avatars, custom content and immersive social platforms.

The POC solutions explored:

• Remote, 5G-powered live studio production for an XR Event, with the integration of a traditional esports production workflow into multi-location XR worlds
• OTT delivery & broadcasting opportunities
• Motion capture for a virtual, 3D environment in real-time, with telemetry learnings from both player and fans
• Data-led fan interaction and personalised experience using analytics and data visualisation
• Real-time rendering of data, video streams, virtual presenter and live gameplay in a 3D world, using Unreal & Unity game engines
• Accessible, consumer-focused experiences via AR/VR/XR devices
• Develop Ecommerce monetisation models for real-time delivery of ads, content, and/or brand awareness into both physical and virtual XR environments

Success was defined by a seamless, live experience in both the virtual and physical spaces, with engaging, immersive content-generating spectator moments, and emotional attachment to the storylines being created.

 

The innovation of this project explored and aimed to showcase the power of high-speed connectivity via 5G, Cloud/Edge computing, for 3D worlds and OTT delivery so that studios, broadcasters, and content providers can now go beyond the traditional delivery infrastructure and pipelines for live, immersive and interactive XR content production.

Groundbreaking Innovation Tools:

• 5G Connectivity
• Cloud & Edge Computing
• Pixel Streaming
• Motion Tracking & Telemetry Systems
• Object Capture
• Low Latency Transport
• AI Data Analytics & Data Visualisation
• Live, Real-Time Rendering
• OTT Platforms

Together, these innovation tools enable a higher level of interactivity and engagement from audiences, while also reaching them through more mediums (both 3D and traditional), anywhere and at any time, and give the power for viewers to make their own stories and a new ecosystem of next-gen content creators and opening the ecosystem for differentiated monetisation opportunities.