Eurosport is launching a new app which it says will allow users to see the 2018 Winter Olympics which begin next week in South Korea, virtually.
The TV channel, now owned by Discovery, will offer fans live virtual reality coverage of the Olympic Winer Games in PyeongChang, which they say is the first-ever live virtual reality coverage of an Olympic Winter Games.
More than 50 hours of live Virtual Reality (VR) coverage is scheduled as well as on-demand replays and daily highlights packages, with big events including alpine skiing and snowboarding (big air and halfpipe) covered as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
The dedicated Winter Olympics Eurosport VR app will be available from 1st February on iOS and Android phones for the equivalent of 99 Euro Cents per day (about 86p).
"Fans will be able to fully personalise their viewing experience, selecting their preferred viewing point from up to six camera positions and immersing themselves with all the sights and sounds within a venue during the live sport. The VR experience will be delivered by Intel True VR, which uses multiple cameras at the selected events to create a 360-degree virtual reality environment for fans to get closer to the action than ever before," a Eurosport statement enthuses.
"Discovery has set out to transform the Olympic Winter Games viewing experience, so being able to offer viewers across Europe every minute of the Games and now every angle of some of the biggest events in live VR goes a long way to delivering this promise. We want to do this to engage more people, on more screens, with the Games than ever before, offering something new to attract younger audiences. In this way, we hope to make fans care even more about the sports they are passionate about," said Ralph Rivera, Managing Director, Eurosport Digital.