In early January 2018 the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s own Olympic Channel launched a new virtual reality series, called ‘Trending Gold’, designed to help sports fans develop a greater appreciation of the behind-the-scenes work.
Launched ahead of PyeongChang 2018, the series, produced by VR specialist Jaunt, is filmed entirely in 360-degree virtual reality.
The ‘Trending Gold’ series is hosted on the Olympic Channel’s digital platform (https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/playback/trending-gold/episodes/), as well as on its mobile apps and the Jaunt app.
Alongside ‘Episode One – Dream Big’ (which introduces Nigeria’s first ever women’s bobsleigh team), a behind-the-scenes, six-minute launch film, directed by Corey Rich, introduces the series which aims to enable sports fans to “experience the thrills and spills of being a top winter Olympic hopeful in immersive 360 VR as they prepare for the 2018 Games” and itself explores what goes into making the Olympic Channel’s first-ever VR Series.
Other episodes feature snowboarders James Anderson and Max Parrot, alpine skiers Ilka Stuhec and Luca Aerbi and Korean short track skaters Ye Jin Kim and Dae Heon Hwang.
The IOC is also promoting the VR series across its other platforms – including Twitter,
Experience the thrills and spills of being a top winter Olympic hopeful first-hand in immersive 360 Virtual Reality as they prepare for the 2018 Games. #PyeongChang2018@pyeongchang2018 @JamieAsnow @MaxParrot @ilkastuhec @Seun_MsAmazing @Olympics pic.twitter.com/QA6AN9y0tv
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) January 4, 2018
and Instagram.
Comment:
Why VR?
“We wanted to provide viewers both the access and first-hand experience of what it means to be an Olympian,” explained Nicolas Delloye, Commissioning Editor for the Olympic Channel.
“That journey brings them to four continents and seven different countries — all while experiencing four completely different sports. From markets in Nigeria to yoga in California, the transportive and introspective features of VR make this possible. That’s the reason why VR has become a new benchmark in storytelling. It’s hugely exciting.”
“Lucas Wilson, who EP’d the series alongside me, did a superb job of delivering these first-person experiences across four fast as lightning winter sports — and in a way that everyone of all ages can enjoy,” Jaunt Executive Producer Canaan Rubin said.
“When you take the snowboard flips in Big Air that Max Parrot captured, we pause you mid-air, upside down, in 360. Everything goes silent and you become the athlete yourself in that moment.”
The campaign launch, a month before the start of PyeongChang 2018, was timed to leverage sports fan interest in the Winter Olympic Games.
Although reports suggest that it was originally planned and pitched to roll out in the build up to the Summer Games of Tokyo 2020.
Whether there remains sufficient fan appetite for VR, or even mainstream headset accessible remains open to question.
To us, leading edge VR work feels just a bit 2016 (and even experimental sports augmented reality already feels, well, a little 2017).
Links:
IOC
https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/
https://www.instagram.com/olympicchannel/
https://www.facebook.com/OlympicChannel/
https://www.youtube.com/user/olympic
https://twitter.com/olympicchannel
Jaunt
https://www.jauntvr.com/company/
