The BBC has announced that it will not only broadcast the World Cup matches on 4K but will also embrace Virtual Reality.
The tests with 4K have been carried out since 2014, and it seems that now they are getting serious about the matter, although for the moment as evidence. Although all 29 World Cup matches will be shown live on the BBC iPlayer app, there will only be a limited number of spaces available for each game in 4K, although they have not defined whether users will be able to watch it on a first-come, first-served basis or have any other preferences.
While Sky and BT Sport have been broadcasting 4K sports for some time now, the BBC doesn’t want to be left behind, and although they are late, they are releasing it with the World Cup, one of the biggest sporting events on the planet.
For Virtual Reality they say on bbc.com that they will use an app called “BBC Sports VR – FIFA World Cup Russia 2018″, which will allow anyone with a smartphone, or compatible VR glasses, to watch the matches live as if they were in the stadium.
With the app, it will be possible to change the point of view so that we can position ourselves in different places inside the stadium, including on the pitch, although it will always depend on how the real cameras are positioned during the game. The app should be coming soon to Apple, Android, Gear VR, Oculus Go and PlayStation VR, and there are no people restrictions, as in the case of 4K.