Fans will feel as though they’re in the stadium when watching footy in the future
REALITY goggles, artificial intelligence and feeling as though you’re inside a venue from the other side of the world — it’s all how fans’ experience is set to change by 2050.
Future Victoria
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GARY Ablett III baulks and bobs and eludes your grasping fingertips and he’s off, screaming towards the Beijing Bears’ forward 50m.
Actually it’s the mitts of Magpies veteran Jax Pendlebury left clutching at air, but with the benefit of super match goggles and a Pendles bundle pack, the fan is the man in 2050.
Asked to imagine the fan experience for the Herald Sun’s Future Melbourne series, experts point to a truly immersive affair — even if you’re watching a Beijing game from your lounge in Benalla.
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“Technology is going to bring you right into the middle of the game,” global futurist Chris Riddell said.
“You will be able to see what a particular sports person is doing. With immersive technology we will actually be able to feel like we are in the middle of the pitch at that exact moment the ball is being dropped.
“If you are in London and you want to watch and participate in your AFL game in Australia, you will be able to have your augmented reality goggles — glasses, if you think of Google glasses — and your smart phone and you would be able to feel as if you’re in that stadium or right in the middle of the field.
Victoria University sports business professor Hans Westerbeek shares a similar vision.
“If 100,000 can be at the Grand Final live, in 2050, 10 million or 20 million can be ‘live’ at the grand final and will pay for it,” Westerbeek said.
“Just by logging in or putting your virtual contact lenses in or getting a chip in your ear. There’s a couple of good science fiction movies that kind of predict this type of stuff and like all good science fiction movies, they are probably leading the thoughts of people who can actually develop that type of technology.
“And maybe the real Grand Final becomes a vintage kind of thing: `What did you do? Oh, I went to the real Grand Final.’ It’s either a premium product or a historic product.
Futurist Riddell says artificial intelligence (AI) will add a new dimension to football — virtual games and leagues.
Not e-sport, actual clubs and leagues.
“You will be unable to tell the difference between a human being game and a virtual game, that’s the big shift we’re going to see,” Riddell said.
“AI will take all of the data from hundreds of years worth of sports play and it will use this to create realistic games with completely different outcomes.”
Fans would be able to watch but also pay to actually be in the game, too.
“You won’t be able to tell the difference between what is real and what is not any more,” Riddell said.
The ‘internet of things’ will also help with real-time stats and biometric readings — heart rate, temperature, for example.
There will be a price, of course.
“If you want access to real-time data, if you want access to your favourite player’s camera, if you want aces to wear wearable devices I think you’ll have to pay for a subscription,” Riddell said.
“The real crazy sports fanatics will have to dig deep into their pockets.”
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