Microsoft shows off possible future of football viewing

Microsoft has promised to release developer kits for its mixed-reality HoloLens headset in the first quarter of this year at $3,000 a pop. For the rest of us, dramatic CGI video demos will have to suffice.

Microsoft’s latest Hololens video shows how it could impact the experience of watching sports at home.

“What if game day was no longer confined to your television screen, but covered your room and took over your coffee table?” The video was posted in a Microsoft blog and unveiled at a Super Bowl 50 panel discussion, “The Future of Football: How Technology Could Shape the Next 50 Years of the Game“.

Fans and viewers would be able to watch their favorite players via high-definition 3D displays made possible with Hololens running on Windows 10, enabling viewers to experience the skills and sportsmanship of players with their stats inclusive. HoloLens will be more and more commonplace, and there will always be new avenues from where usage scenarios are envisioned – be it in the education line, for architecture or even medicine. According to BuzzFeed News, the company has been meeting with camera manufacturers to discuss adding support for “immersive live-streamed video broadcasts”. In the concept, you’ll see a group of people slide HoloLens headsets over their faces and watch football as it is superimposed over their real-world view (and, in one instance, a coffee table).