YBVR Launched YB Arena – Split-Second Latency XR Video Streaming Solution

YB Arena Launch

With this solution tailored for immersive in-venue fan experiences, sports fans experienced immersive 360/180 multi-video streaming enabled by 5G and AWS Wavelength mobile edge compute capabilities at the Golden1Center SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — YBVR, has launched their latest product YB Arena to provide immersive live streaming of XR video in real-time with premium user experiences for in-venue entertainment. On December 8th, 2021 at the Golden1Center, for the first time ever, basketball fans could experience 360/180 immersive views while being their own program director, enjoying courtside views of Sacramento Kings vs. Orlando Magic on their mobile device from any seat of the stadium. Running YB Arena on AWS Wavelength at the 5G Edge, enabled the fans to follow the game in real-time. AWS Wavelength brings AWS compute and storage services to the edge of carriers’ wireless networks. The combination minimizes the latency and network hops required to connect from an application hosted on AWS to the end user’s device. Next-gen in-venue fan experience – Immersive multi-cam viewing in real-time streamed from the Edge “We are thrilled to launch immersive real-time services for new fan experiences in stadiums together with AWS. Benefiting from 5G and AWS Wavelength MEC capabilities to break previous limitations for latency and being able to deliver immersive videos in premium 8K quality to fans at the stadium with a split-second low lag is very exciting,” said Hector Prieto, Co-Founder and CEO of YBVR. “This is just the beginning of creating the future of experiencing live sports and entertainment on site.” Sports and music businesses are trying to find new ways to engage with their fans. Especially how to attract younger audiences with new, interactive, cutting-edge technologies in entertainment, and how to get fans into the stadium rather than watching games at home or on the go. Beside the low-lag in-venue focus, YBVR also offers YB One, their OTT product for immersive live streaming to millions of fans at home or on the go. Both products run on a lean footprint and can be operated very efficiently from a single platform. YBVR’s go-to-market solution in the US is enabled through AWS partner network program.

YBVR provides immersive tech to Bowling for the IBF Super World Championships at Dubai

Bowling

A live scenario piloting the ‘fan in control’ experience that immerses fans through StrikeCloud took place at the IBF Super World Championships 2021 from Dubai in November, powered by YBVR. SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — YBVR, the leading immersive XR streaming solution that unlocks live event emotions for millions of viewers across devices, today presented the technology pilot conducted in Dubai this November at the IBF Super World Championships from Dubai Expo 2020. Thanks to YBVR immersive tech, bowling fans from around the world have enjoyed a live immersive experience from home and in mobility, from multiple devices – Mobile (Phones/Tablets), Web (PC/MAC) and Oculus VR headsets. Fans from 83 countries took the opportunity to feel as if they were present at the finals of the World Championships. Thousands of beta users have tested the StrikeCloud Immersive concept, with high interest from users in Sweden and USA as both countries medaled. With YBVR patented tech, fans can select the preferred angle with a multi-cam choice and an immediate synchronized camera change. On top of this, they can also select 360-degree views to check out the actions from the lanes, close up! “At the very start of our digital transformation plans, we connected with YBVR to help us discover a new distinctive way to unlock the sport’ said Chris Neilson, Innovation & Business Development Director at IBF”. He continued: “It’s been extremely exciting to see this vision come to life during our IBF Super World Championships at Dubai Expo2020, showcasing the flexible interactively to consume the sport by providing full control to the fan across multiple devices. By immersing fans from anywhere into our outdoor setup ensured we could celebrate with the loyal bowling enthusiasts and welcome the new fans with a well-balanced hybrid experience that will take bowling into the next millennium”. “YBVR is proud in being part of the journey with IBF and the International Bowling community’ said Hector Prieto, YBVR CEO. ‘We will support and be there with key stakeholders of bowling to ensure everyone across the world can enjoy in real-time, the live emotions of sport bowling!” After this validation, the industry has ambitious plans for the full deployment of the YBVR technology across National Federations, broadcasters, academies, and tournament organizers. Very soon, the emerging Virtual Ticket to the Metaverse of Sports will allow passionate bowling fans to feel the sport closer than ever before, regardless of the limitations of space for those that cannot be physically present at a tournament itself. Try out on your device: The immersive bowling experience StrikeCloud 360. About YBVR YBVR is re-defining the way fans experience live sports and entertainment engaging from home, and in-venue. Even without being in-venue, fans can now experience the magic of ‘being there’. YBVR tech enables a new immersive and interactive dialogue with sport fans, especially the new generations. YBVR cloud-based tech empowers sport and music event organizers and right-holders with new assets for engagement and monetization. Fans can decide when, how, what and with whom to enjoy live streaming with premium viewing experiences, in real-time, and across devices. YBVR headquarters are in California with a development team in Madrid and commercial presence in Japan, Singapore, and Australia. About International Bowling Federation (IBF) The International Bowling Federation represents member federations and bowlers from across the world. At the heart of what we do, uniting us all, is our mission to connect the world with the greatness of bowling. Connecting further, faster, for all. Ninepin, Tenpin, academy, para, male, female, young, old; whoever you are, wherever you come from, our sport crosses cultures. Truly inclusive, united by a passion for bowling, we bring the world closer together by innovating our sport with technology and data. Championing the best of bowling. Guardians of our sport, we show bowling at its best. By removing the complexity and barriers to play, without compromising the integrity of our sport. IBF is the International governing body for the sport of Tenpin, Ninepin and Para Bowling representing five continental zones and 114 member federations. IBF was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979 as the world governing body for the sport of Bowling and by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2019 for Para Bowling.

Fan evolution on traditional sports

Fan Evolution

There is no doubt that technology has a bearing on sports development. During the latest years, the sports industry has gone through many changes, considering both the emergence of new sports and the advances in different types of entertainment. The sports industry is getting more professional and accurate by the hand of technology. Thinking about a combination of sport and technology, who cannot expect innovative sponsorship packages, the possibility of increasing the ticketing offer, revolutionary fan engagement experiences, and the variety of new sports competition? And yet, fans of these sports are getting older on average: According to Sports Business Journal’s data (Table 1), as described in the 3DownNation portal, the average age of fans of several national leagues and international competitions with a huge relevance has been steadily increasing. This trend can negatively affect the future of these sports: younger fans are not feeling the same interest as before. Which are the factors driving these trends? What kind of actions to take as a result? All of these are burning questions for anyone in these sports. On one hand, the world has changed: New device form factors (mobile, tablet…), the rising popularity of short duration highlights versus full games, the emergence of interactive content… these are only some of the changes that no one could expect some years ago. The effect of generational change in the consumption habits of “traditional” sports can be seen in terms of the fan base, engagement, and viewing minutes. Newer generations, attracted by new sports, focused on different preferences and needs, living in an unstable environment, and benefiting from digital tools, seem to be harder for many of these sports to attract and retain. On the side of actions, sports institutions are trying many different solutions: The backwardness of some competition bases: ATP introduced the ATP Next Generation in 2017, a new competition to promote and highlight the young professionals. Broadcasting and its channels: LaLiga has started experimenting with Twitch content and interacting with prominent streamers and casters. Younger fans use different platforms and sports must adapt to them. Fan engagement: Euroleague has shown innovative strategies by promoting the FanXP Challenge: A Challenge to captivate start-ups focused on fan engagement. Embrace new competitions: some traditional clubs, like Real Betis Balompié or Shalke04, introduced an eSports team in their business plan to connect with the new entertainment audience. In fact, it is normal to have a little increase in the average fan’s age due to the huge variety of new entertainment that is competing with the sport. There are fewer possibilities to attach the audience in just one of them as there are more leisure options. It means that fans prefer to diversify their preferences, as it is being more usual to see multi-device consumers. However, traditional sports must be cautious about their fan’s evolution and how this will affect the future of their competitions. YBVR offers a means to rejuvenate the audience of traditional sports with a technology that resonates with newer generations. Sports broadcast from different perspectives, unique experiences from events around the world, total immersive action, and a variety of content options, all these factors combined make an incredible opportunity to connect with the younger audiences.

Euroleague Final Four

Euroleague Final Four

Fans can get closer than ever to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four with the ground-breaking launch of a unique virtual reality experience for this month’s season finale in Cologne. The Final Four VR Pass will offer unprecedented up-close access to the on-court action, bringing home the emotions of the live event like never before. A digital control room will let fans curate their own viewing experience by choosing among 12 live feeds, including four 180-degree cameras on the backboards and in the area of the courtside seats. Users have the freedom to switch between cameras in real-time to decide which ones they watch and how they watch them. The pass may be bought as a virtual ticket at a base price of 15€ by clicking here. A code can then be redeemed in the EuroLeagueTV VR App, available on Android, iOS and Oculus, giving full VR access to all four games of the Final Four. Due to the inability of fans to attend the Final Four this season due to health and safety protocols surrounding the global pandemic, the Final Four VR Pass is a chance to witness the event in a whole new way. Passes will be limited to the number of regular tickets, 14,210, that would have been sold for the Lanxess Arena under normal circumstances. The VR Pass will be offered to those fans who had bought tickets for the canceled 2020 Final Four and to current EuroLeague TV subscribers with a 50% discount. The Final Four VR Pass is a collaboration between Euroleague Basketball and Yerba Buena VR Inc. (YBVR), a leading developer of end-to-end VR video streaming solutions and services. YBVR has a special focus on premium quality video and easy-to-deploy experiences, using patented immersive technology to offer 8K streaming at 60 frames per second with zero-buffering, instant camera change capability. Alex Ferrer Kristjansson, Euroleague Basketball Marketing and Communication Senior Director, said: “Since the cancellation of last season’s Final Four we have been working hard to bring our fans the best possible experience during their absence from the arenas due to the pandemic. The VR Pass will allow our fans to live the Final Four almost like a player”. Hector Prieto, Co-Founder and CEO of YBVR, said: “It is exciting to work hand-in-hand with Euroleague Basketball in pioneering a Virtual Reality experience. The most rewarding thing is allowing devoted basketball fans to really feel the emotions of the live Final Four, experiencing the action at home as if they were courtside in Cologne.”

YBVR, Verizon, and AWS

technology update

Businesses and developers can build and deploy applications with AWS Wavelength Companies as YBVR are already testing their edge solutions in AWS Wavelength zones at the edge of Verizon’s 5G network in multiple locations. Businesses and developers can build and deploy applications with AWS Wavelength at Verizon’s 5G Edge in three new locations: Atlanta, New York and Washington, DC. Verizon and AWS launched the mobile edge computing (MEC) platform last month in Boston and the Bay Area and plan to add five more cities by year end. Mobile edge computing moves the data and processing done by the applications and services we use closer to the end user at the edge of the network. This shortens the roundtrip data needs to travel, reducing lag time, or latency. By moving AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, innovators can develop applications with ultra-low latencies that will support next-generation use cases ranging from self-driving cars to autonomous industrial equipment. Customers are already testing their edge solutions in AWS Wavelength zones at the edge of Verizon’s 5G network in multiple locations. YBVR is building a next-generation VR video platform and is testing how they can utilize 5G and Wavelength to stream live 8K Ultra HD (UHD) video to sports fans and concertgoers, allowing simultaneous users to choose various camera views with ultra-low latency. “Leveraging the powerful combination of Verizon 5G and AWS Wavelength will enable us to put the ‘fan in control’,” said Sebastian Amengual, YBVR co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. “With 5G and MEC, fans should be able to enjoy 8K live streams on mobile and XR devices in real-time and have their own, personalized watching experience which was not feasible before.” Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network will enable throughput at least 10 times faster than 4G; deliver ultra-low latency and offer very high bandwidth. Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is expected to eventually enable 100 times larger data volumes than 4G; and the ability to connect more than a million devices per kilometer. “Watching businesses build transformational applications on the world’s first 5G mobile edge computing platform with AWS Wavelength shows how our 5G Ultra Wideband network matters to customers TODAY and is already impacting how businesses operate and consumers live, work and play,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “When it comes to innovating on 5G and MEC, we’re only scratching the surface.” Learn more information about Verizon 5G Edge and Verizon’s 5G technology. For more information for developers, visit here.

World Bowling

World Bowling Case Study

World Bowling and YBVR, the Silicon Valley immersive technology company, have announced a three-year partnership that will allow millions of fans to experience bowling like never before. YBVR, who has showcased its VR live streaming technology in top sports events like The Australian Open, will work with bowling’s international governing body to deliver the next generation of immersive technology in a multidevice strategy. “We are very excited with this opportunity to take the world of bowling to the next level, and attract new audiences around the world,” said Hector Prieto, YBVR CEO. The partnership will create vibrant and immersive experiences for bowling fans, bringing a new degree of engagement through virtual reality and interactive features. Together, World Bowling and YBVR will work to deliver new content and engage fans with a variety of Apps, software, and innovative solutions that allow for a personalized experience for every user. YBVR technology deploys 8K VR quality streaming and instant camera change in its broadcastings, allowing viewers to catch every second of the action from multiple points of view. Athletes, Coaches and fans will experience a 360 degree vision of the action, along integrated social and interactive capabilities that will connect them in ways until now impossible. “YBVR is an essential piece of the jigsaw in our “Bowling Evolved” strategy, providing multiple ways for our athletes and fans to experience, consume and engage with our elite, para bowling and academy content,” said Chris Neilson, Innovation & Business Development Director, World Bowling. Under the agreement, World Bowling and YBVR will develop a new future for VR coaching and education with further enhancements and integration into the global application for gamification and tournament data tracking. Neilson continues: “Users will be able to consume content via a multi-cam mobile experience in 2D, 180 and 360 with supportive features, real-time statistics and scoreboards for the complete XR experience”. About YBVR – Based in Silicon Valley and Madrid, YBVR is a technology start-up building the next generation VR video distribution platform. The company specializes in providing the best immersion for VR streaming for all devices, all with a single platform. Its technology has already delivered immersive experience to audiences of greatest tennis events, including Australian Open, Laver Cup and Davis Cup. About World Bowling – World Bowling is the International governing body for the sport of Tenpin, Ninepin and the newly formed ParaBowling representing five continental zones and 114 member federations. World Bowling was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979 as the world governing body for the sport of Bowling and by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2019 for ParaBowling. For more information and interviews, please contact: Media Contacts: YBVR ybvr@ybvr.com World Bowling Media Department media@worldbowling.org

VR Control Room: enhancing traditional broadcast with the immersion and interactivity of VR

VR Headset Preview

Some Broadcasters are reluctant to test VR as a new format for their productions due to the effort it would suppose taking them to produce VR video content for every event they are covering. It is indeed a fair concern: current TV productions are already fairly complex: fixed cameras, moving cameras, drones, spider cams, analytics, dynamic graphics, multiple audios, subtitles, closed captions… in this a big and complex environment, adding the sophisticated VR production equipment for what (let’s face it) is still a “marginal” audience does not seem all that worth it to many. The benefit, at least in the short term, does not always compensate the enormous effort and cost in complexity, the entry barrier is simply too steep. In addition to this, regular broadcast has gone through many decades of refinement, and although 360 and 180 video do provide (when delivered properly) a unique novelty of immersion and sense of presence, immersive production practices and techniques are still in the early days, and are not in the same level of refinement and sophistication. This is why, to many broadcasters, doing immersive-only productions doesn’t seem appealing. And yet, the days in which a single produced TV feed was enough seem to be over: we have reached such level of refinement and sophistication in TV that we can barely enjoy it for more than a few seconds. Think of a racing event: with so many things happening at once, so many stats, rich visualizations, in-car cameras, interviews, reverse angles, overtake attempts, accidents, etc. , the produced TV feed can barely scratch the surface of the overall event. The way we experience these events needs to evolve beyond its current form while still enjoying the benefits it has already achieved. With these concerns in mind, YBVR has developed the VR Control Room: a solution to gather all these existing regular video feeds to build an amazing VR experience. This solution puts the user into the TV director’s chair, showing the feeds available to choose. Users can select what feed they prefer at any time, without any interruption in the watching and keeping all the feeds at the sight, all synchronized. Additionally, there is a lot of space around the viewer to include additional elements: match analytics, players bio, competition results, sponsors advertising… using the huge visual real state VR brings to keep users engaged with relevant and interactive content. YBVR’s VR Control Room lowers the barrier of entry to produce compelling immersive experiences: TV producers can offer a compelling VR experience taking advantage of all existing TV content without having to add the complexity of 180 or 360 productions from the beginning. Evolving this experience to increase its immersive appeal is a natural step with built-in support in YBVR platform, since immersive video feeds (up to 8K60FPS 360 video) can easily be added to the experience at any point. This means that broadcasters can include VR video content gradually, as users demand and production resources evolve. VR Control Room is available for Live and also for VoD productions, where users can watch a production again and again, choosing different views every time. YBVR has already applied this technology in the real world. You can find all these concepts applied in the Laver Cup VR App, available for OculusGo (here) and HTC Vive Focus (here), selecting Director’s chair in the Highlights and “Match points” videos. Feel free to share, in the comments of this post, what has been your experience. Don’t miss it!

Transforming Video VR in an interactive experience

Instant Camera Change

Video VR has been blamed frequently for a lack of interactivity, then user retention was condemned to be lower than other VR experiences. In fact, the meantime of watching video VR experiences has been between 2 and 4 minutes (1:30 in this article, others go to 10 minutes as average). Anyway, three factors are key to move this figure up: interest, quality and interactivity. Interest is key because VR is an experience that can be interrupted at any time. The user is the king. Then, a boring piece in the content is an open door to quit the experience. Also, the connection between content and user is basic, the interest is not in the content, it’s in the user, then to find the right content for every user (and the right user for every content) is a success strategy. Quality (video and audio) is also key, because it gives the degree of immersion into the experience. YBVR is pushing VR video quality to the edge of technically available producing 8K@60fps video and applying its own technology of YBVR-FOV-adaptation to show the best quality using standard internet access connections for live and VoD content. Interactivity is the last challenge to improve user retention in video VR. A wide portfolio of videos, a user-friendly menu, categories, recommendations… are techniques to ease the interaction of the user with the app, but it doesn’t get into the watching experience, once the video is playing. YBVR has developed the instant camera change (ICC), it allows the user to change of point of view at any time while the video is playing. Using different video cameras in different positions, the user can jump from one to another camera without any interruption of the action. ICC introduces the interactivity in video VR, users are no longer passive watchers, they’re transformed in the producer of the video experience. The effect on user retention is impressive. In live productions, watching time per user has moved from 7 minutes average to 22 minutes in Live events. You can test by yourself the ICC effect in the Laver Cup VR App, available for OculusGo (here) and HTC Vive Focus (here), and comment in this post what has been your experience. Don’t miss it!

VR headsets, where are you going?

VR Headset

We’ve had two important news related to VR headsets during the last weeks, making a relevant milestone in this industry. The VR path is changing, and we need to understand how we are facing the future to be ready to cope with the new scenario. First, the confirmation about the end of smartphone-VR in the high end. Samsung dropped VR support from its Galaxy Note 10 handset during the summer, confirming the deprecation of Samsung Gear VR. A few weeks ago, John Carmack (Oculus CTO) declared «It is probably time for me to give a bit of a eulogy for Gear VR». He explained the main reason Samsung gave to quit VR was the low retention of the user, in comparison to Rift, Rift S, Quest, and Go. And low retention was produced for the user friction, because users were reluctant to spend battery (so quicky), compromising their mobile availability, and the fact the users had to «get their phones out of their pockets, pull off cases, mount and dock it». A few days later, Google announced they will stop selling Daydream headsets. The company declared to Variety: «We saw a lot of potential in smartphone VR—being able to use the smartphone you carry with you everywhere to power an immersive on-the-go experience. But over time we noticed some clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution. Most notably, asking people to put their phone in a headset and lose access to the apps they use throughout the day causes immense friction». Again, this terrible word for a marketer: “friction”. Usability is the main reason for this friction, but another point has also to be considered: the hard requirements for processor and screen (and eventually battery), pushing the devices further than the specs they were designed for, high-end models included. Different devices for different specifications makes sense, and this is the path VR headsets are taking. The second news is the Oculus Link. Oculus Quest will be able to become a tethered headset with a USB 3 cable, playing most of the PC content developed for Rift. Then, the user will have the opportunity to choose how to use the headset, as a standalone device, for VR video watching and low requirements VR games, or as a tethered device, getting all the power of the PC. This new hybrid headset concept can change the industry, the customer journey into VR and the way content is produced so far. In the near future, standalone and tethered flavors of the content will be available for the user. The next step is the wireless link, they are working on that and the USB 3 cable will be changed by a radio link. Soon, gamers, today more focused on tethered models, can get the opportunity to enjoy VR far from their PC. Video watchers, now more fans of stand-alone models, could easily step forward to a gamer experience when an equipped PC is available. What is the summary of these two milestones? Smartphone-headset is dead while hybrid-headset has born. VR headset is not more a gadget, VR headset is an independent and first-row device.

Laver Cup 2019

Laver Cup

Laver Cup global VR streaming with the highest video quality using YBVR tech An outstanding immersive experience for tennis fans to enjoy Laver Cup in Virtual Reality. The best VR video live experience will be broadcasted from the Laver Cup tournament: 8K at 60 frames per second video, with instant camera change from the user, who can choose any of the 12 camera positions at the tennis court. The best tennis captured with two 360 degrees cameras close to the benches of the players and two 180 ones at the edges of the court, to follow your team like you were there in the front row or better. Fans will be able also to enjoy tennis from the Director’s Chair, where they can select which view out of 8 cameras they want to enjoy at each moment, with the same choice capability that the Broadcast Director. Laver Cup VR application will be available for Oculus Go (Oculus store) and HTC Vive Focus (Viveport store) from the beginning of the tournament. Highlights of the day, match points and featured immersive content will be available globally. Live matches will be watched from Europe. The five live Laver Cup VR session times are as follows: Friday, September 20: 13:00, Match 1 (singles) f/b Match 2 (singles) Friday, September 20: 19:00, Match 3 (singles) f/b Match 4 (doubles) Saturday, September 21: 13:00, Match 5 (singles) f/b Match 6 (singles) Saturday, September 21: 19:00, Match 7 (singles) f/b Match 8 (doubles) Sunday, September 22: 12:00, Match 9 (doubles) f/b Match 10 (singles), Match 11 (singles), Match 12 (singles) and a Decider, Match 13 (doubles) if points are even. VR Highlights and more content will be available by 24h after the match and can be watched into the Laver Cup VR APP after the event. With 4 different camera feeds, fans will be able to change their viewing positions from each team bench to a spot behind each base line, a seat no money can buy. This VR experience will provide fans with a unique look into what goes on away from the court. From players teaching each other new tricks to team chats, warms ups and games, a VR clip with 2x 4min features will be created (1-week after) that showcases the special nature of the Laver Cup environment from each team’s perspective. The focus here is a look away from the action, into the fresh shift in mindsets of the players from individual to team. Where else can you see two of the greatest tennis players ever sit on the one team and discuss tactics? YBVR technology optimizes production, streaming and delivery of VR video, building amazing VR experiences with the highest quality and adjusted bandwidth requirements. Be immersive!