Live From PyeongChang: Intel Partnership Brings Stability to VR Efforts 30 events get live, on-demand virtual-reality coverage By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, February 22, 2018 - 12:59 pm
Print This Story
Although, in the early days of these PyeongChang Games, much was made of the elegant drones used in the Opening Ceremony, U.S. tech giant (and IOC sponsor) Intel is also playing a key role in creating the global virtual-reality experience of the Winter Olympics.
Working in collaboration with Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), NBC Sports, and Eurosport, Intel is delivering live and on-demand VR content for 30 events to viewers using Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR headsets.
An Intel True VR rig acquires footage of the Women's Skeleton Finals at one of the first turns of the Alpensia Sliding Centre.
For each event receiving the VR treatment, at least three 4K stereoscopic pods are strategically placed throughout the venue. The pods contain 12 cameras each, some shooting in 4K.
A noted difference from the VR offering for Rio 2016 is that Intel and OBS are offering a 180-degree stereoscopic view of live action. According to OBS Head of Digital Matt Millington, 180-degree works fine because, at many positions, the view behind the camera is of little interest, and it's an overall better use of streaming bandwidth.
The picture quality is better, says Millington. Some people do prefer the 360 just because it offers more of a feeling of being there: you can look all the way around you. But, with the live [shots], 180 stereoscopic gives a much crisper image with less latency.
With the live experience, viewers are able to choose their own camera angles or select to view a VRCast, a version of the show cut by a VR director with inserted graphics and (sometimes) audio commentary.
At this year's Games, there has been a stronger emphasis on providing on-demand content. For Rio 2016, maybe one piece of on-demand content was posted per day. Here, there's a minimum of two or three pieces per day. The on-demand content is more experiential and is offered in 360 degrees. It places viewers in the heart of the action: for example, viewers can experience a downhill slalom run for the perspective of a skier's helmet.
According to Millington, OBS has found the 360-degree, on-demand content to be some of the most popular among users. That's from anecdotal evidence gained in watching guests interact with the experience at a demo station in the lobby of the IBC.
OBS's Matt Millington (back), with four students providing VR demos to guests at the IBC. The students are from an outreach program implemented by the OBS to offer temporary tech jobs at the Games to local youth.
We're getting in our analytics, he says, but I haven't had my analytics of the exact clips people are watching. Certainly, empirically, from just watching people, they all go straight to the downhill skiing or the ski jump [in on-demand].
Much as OBS does for its live-streaming Olympic Video Player (OVP), the broadcast service offers raw SDKs (software-development kits) with which rightsholders can integrate VR streams into their own new or existing consumer-facing apps. It also offers a white-label version of a VR app, providing simpler (but less customized) implementation. All those tools are built by Intel and facilitated through OBS.
OBS has, admittedly, lacked some continuity in its VR production over recent years (i360 was its VR partner for Rio 2016), but now, with Intel on board with a sizeable corporate sponsorship, there should be some stability for future Olympics.
OBS knows that, for many consumers, especially in the West, VR is still a work in progress, but it wants to remain on the cutting edge of the growth process for this evolving medium.
The truth is, the only people who use [VR] for long periods of time are the gamers, says Millington. Sports is still quite niche in VR, and it hasn't really taken off yet. We know there are huge amounts of investment going into VR. It's evolving, and we believe it has legs and is going to get better.
Most recent headlines
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
Live From PyeongChang: Intel Partnership Brings Stability to VR Efforts 30 events get live, on-demand virtual-reality coverage By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
