Two years have passed since the buzz of Summer Olympics in Brazil 2016, Rio Di Janeiro, and we now find ourselves at the lesser known sister of the summer event, the winter olympics.
The winter olympics is often overshadowed by its summer counterparts but there is a bit of excitement coming out of Pyeongchang 2018 as brands use the global event to tap into a younger, cooler, trendier market.
Generally, there is no real buzz as the sports the winter olympics consist off are events that not a lot of people have ever participated or can relate too. ( In the UK anyway 😊)
However, with the introduction of Virtual Reality events and walkthroughs, giving the normal fans a chance to experience each and every individual sport themselves via VR, there is a level of excitement surrounding the games. Who wouldn't want to live each turn on the slope and each quadruple lutze that Nathan Chen lands.
VR is not only being used for experiential areas related to the viewers but athlete training also.
Many of the world's top skiers will have had only a handful of runs on the courses in the Taebaek mountains.
They have spent the past year getting acquainted with the course, memorising the twists and turns and gate positions, all thanks to the use of 360-degree software and virtual reality headsets.
That US team filmed the course with the help of 360 video, which they have studied and practised using a capture run on the slopes, allowing athletes to re-live the course over and over again, giving them "mental access" to it. It doesn't stop there though, they have even been able to manipulate the footage, changing the weather and light.
Nothing should be a surprise to the team who have been down the slopes and know each and every turn and angle.
The clear advantage of VR is that it allows an athlete to immerse themselves into the specifics of any course under any circumstance which is an obvious performance benefit and no doubt gives the competitive edge over other athletes.
Will VR therefore aid in winning the gold...only time will tell.
