Late October saw the launch of a new licensing partnership between the NFL Players Association (NFLPA)’s marketing arm – the NFL Players Inc – and Altered Reality Corporation to create the very first shareable 3D images of some of the NFL’s biggest stars.
This groundbreaking tie-up sees the athletes become ‘virtual presences’ in ARC’s Play3D Augmented Reality App – trumpeted as the world’s first ‘photorealistic hologram mobile camera’.
The app, which is available to be downloaded for free from both the Apple App Store and from Google Play, transports these holograms into the smartphone camera view: so that video clips included them can be captured and shared across social networks and via email and text.
For the initial launch, seven NFL stars feature as hologram images – which were captured during the ‘2018 NFLPA Rookie Premiere’.
This line-up is Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Sam Darnold, Lamar Jackson, Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Additional player holograms will be added into the app environment through the 2018-19 season.
The initiative launched on Sunday, 28 October ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the Cleveland Browns when JuJu Smith-Schuster invited his 2.5 million followers to participate in ‘JuJu’s Tailgate Party Challenge’.
This inventive holographic fan offering emerged from an original idea of the receiver himself.
Before kick-off, Smith-Schuster broadcast via Instagram video: showing his hologram at a fan’s pregame BBQ: “Click here and I will virtually crash your tailgate party!”
Fans could simply to tap a link in his post to download several free Play3D JuJu holograms which will open in their iPhone cameras and thus he can be summoned up holographically to be ‘present at fan tailgate parties’.
As well as this kind of player [personal promotion, the initiative is being promoted by both the NFLPA’s and ARC’s digital and social channels.
Professional football players can now be in everyday photos. Augmented Reality Corp., through its partnership w/@NFLPA, allows users to virtually interact w/realistic holograms of players via Play3D app. https://t.co/12m7kMoZ82#licensing #AR #sportsbiz #football pic.twitter.com/SWRz7s0QtH
— NFL Players Inc. (@NFLPlayersInc) October 26, 2018
and Altered Reality Corp.
“Through this unique partnership, ARC is able to capture realistic scans of NFL players, offering football fans a virtual experience like none other. As demonstrated by the JuJu experience, the players also have another creative way to engage with fans. We look forward to helping ARC add more of the league’s bright new stars to this transformative app,” said Steve Scebelo, VP licensing and business development, NFL Players Inc.
“The ARC team is honored to be partnering with the NFLPA to offer this new form of interactive fan experience. Augmented Reality has enormous potential to connect people in unexpected ways, and with Play3D we’re transporting these amazing athletes directly into their fans’ world, where they can interact as never before,” said Nels Israelson, CEO, Altered Reality Corp.
Comment:
This kind of innovative alliance between ARC (the parent company of the Play3D App) and the National Football League Players Association (the union for the NFLs professional football players established in 1956) shows how the players are attempting to create their own customised offerings and services independently from the league and the teams.
Described in the official press release as being groundbreaking and pioneering, this technology, which is optimized for iOS 12 and powered by ARKit, Play3D, could offer a path to the next generation of AR technology and offers plenty of possibilities for generating and sharing sports star holograms.
Will sports fans embrace the chance to summon up favourite sports star or action-relevant player holograms to share on their social networks, generate memes, spark engagement and multiple reach?
We will have to wait and see whether these magical player presences catch on with fans and with marketers.
Links:
Altered Reality Corp (ARC)
http://alteredreality.com
https://www.facebook.com/Play3Dapp/
https://twitter.com/Play3D_app
https://www.instagram.com/play3d_app/
NFL Players Association / NFL Players Inc
https://www.youtube.com/user/NFLPLAYERS
https://twitter.com/NFLPlayersInc
https://www.facebook.com/NFLPA
https://www.linkedin.com/company/nfl-players-inc-?trk=company_name
