EE and BT Sport reveal new sports experiences fuelled by 5G and extended reality By Heather McLean, Editor
Friday, March 11, 2022 - 10:56
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At the EE and BT Sport demonstration, a boxer takes an attendee through his paces to demonstrate a first-of-its-kind immersive sports-viewing experience, bringing live fights from the ring into the front room
EE and BT Sport have unveiled new ways to watch and experience sports and the performing arts using 5G and extended reality (XR) technology, developed through an EE and BT Sport-led project, 5G Edge-XR.
The project demonstrates how the potential of EE's 5G network, paired with cloud graphics processing units, can enable consumers to view events in a range of new, highly immersive ways.
Earlier this week BT Sport and EE showcased the new experiences on a standalone 5G network, including real-time mixed reality overlays for rugby coverage and augmented reality fan experiences for MotoGP.
We see the crossover between being able to provide really immersive experiences, and also we want them to be realistic, but we want to stay with the editorial and provide great output
5G Edge-XR is supported by UK government agency, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), The Grid Factory, Condense Reality, DanceEast, Salsa Sound and The University of Bristol. Other high-end XR services being explored by the project address the needs of industries as diverse as construction, health and retail.
Speaking to SVG Europe, Matt Stagg, BT Sport's director of mobile experience, says the aim of this trial and where it is going is the future of sports broadcasting. This is where we move towards the metaverse, he states. On what the metaverse could be, for me it's an evolution of social viewing.
Number one, if you're a sports fan you want to be at the stadium, but it's not possible for everyone for many reasons - it's difficult sometimes to get tickets, you might not have accessibility, you might not be able to afford it as it's very expensive - but I think we're bridging that gap between being at the stadium [or not]. The next best thing [to being at the stadium] is watching on as big a screen as possible with friends, as it's a social experience. What we wanted to look at [in this project] is how we could use this technology along with everything we've got in the consortium using 5G and edge computing to be able to bridge that gap between the stadium and the TV, and that's where we're going with a lot of these experiences.
That's where we see sport looking at a metaverse, he continues. It's just how do you get people together when they're somewhere else and want to watch sport, and how do you make that as close to being together at a stadium as you can?
The demonstration was provided on a standalone 5G network especially created to demonstrate the optimum benefits of a 5G core-based network, as opposed to running a 5G technology overlay on top of a 4G network, which is what EE is currently providing to consumers to get some of the benefits of 5G out to consumers. A 5G core-based standalone network will provide the full benefits of 5G, including network slicing and edge computing, and being able to put prioritisation on certain things going over the network.
Stagg explains: Standalone is where you have a 5G core. At the moment, the original 5G [offering from EE] was built on a 4G core, just to get it out as quickly as possible.
EE is in the process of deploying a new 5G core network upgrade which will launch by 2023.
If you're trying to do experiences where you can walk around, you have to have the sound follow you to those locations. You don't want to be on one side [of the holographic ring] hearing the sound of the boxer on the other side, and as you move round it all stays the same, because it won't fully immerse you
EE and BT Sport are looking at the use of private standalone 5G network on top of the existing 4G-based 5G network in order to see what more can be got out of the technology, to create use cases such as in-stadium experiences, and moving forward we'll be doing a lot more around 5G for production, says Stagg.
He goes on: If we're going to go to mass consumers [with 5G-based experiences] we'll be using these [type of standalone] networks, so we're looking at how standalone private [5G] networks can work. Within the EE network at the moment we're running on non-standalone [5G], which means we don't have the 5G core. [But] the advantages you can have with a 5G standalone network means you can make additional changes including adding multi access edge computing. We're working on deploying that at the moment.
Watch a video of the EE and BT Sport XR and AR demonstrations here
Using everyday devices such as smartphones, tablets and TVs, as well as the latest augmented reality (AR) headsets, the new prototypes showcased by BT Sport and EE enable users to take control and engage in an event from any angle of their choosing.
For example, rugby fans can take the experience of being at a match or event to previously unmatched levels with real-time, data-rich AR insights such as ball trajectories and kick distances. Boxing fans can bring fight nights into their own living room with highly immersive holographic videos which puts them up close to the boxers as they fight. Meanwhile, dancers, musicians and other artists can remotely demonstrate, teach and engage with students and fans using EE's 5G network to provide real-time interactive experiences.
At the home of Saracens rugby in London this week, EE and BT unveiled the following new experiences, aspects of which are being further developed by BT Sport for launch in the future. The demonstrations were supported by BT Media & Broadcast's TV OB
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EE and BT Sport reveal new sports experiences fuelled by 5G and extended reality By Heather McLean, Editor 
