The world’s first test of live 360-degree video in 8K has been claimed by golf event The European Tour and Tata Communications after trialling the technology at the Sky Sports British Masters.
Full-circle video was captured on the 18th hole of the UK’s Walton Heath Golf Club course, where fans were able to enjoy the action on a large screen, with VR headsets for a personalised viewing experience.
The feed was live transcoded by Visbit, using the company’s View-Optimized Streaming (VVOS) technology. Tata says the technology allowed it to save up to 80% of bandwidth, enabling the streaming of UHD 8K video over a regular Internet connection. The 8K signal was delivered over Tata Communications’ ultra-low-latency Video Connect network and played on the Visbit 8K Live Player app on Samsung Gear VR headsets with Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones. The 8K capturing and real-time stitching solution for the proof-of-concept was supplied by Kandao, whose Obsidian 8K VR camera uses six 4K lenses to capture the course from every angle.
Tata hopes that the technology breakthrough will allow it engage with sports fans in new ways by offering top-notch VR experiences.
In addition to using VR to let fans tour golf venues, Tata suggests that it could even let fans view the action from their golfing hero’s point of view or support referees when making crucial decisions.