If you don’t have any plans to go to Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Olympics this August, you can still sort of be there, at least virtually. NBC Olympics announced that they will be providing virtual reality coverage of the Rio Olympics. It will be available exclusively on compatible Samsung Galaxy devices and of course the Gear VR. This is the first time that there will be VR programming in the world’s biggest sporting event and if you have the necessary devices, then that should be something you should check out.
There will be around 85 hours of VR programming that you will be able to enjoy through the NBC Sports app on your Samsung devices. This will include the opening and closing ceremonies, although of course you will be able to watch it the day after. Other sports that will have VR programming would be men’s basketball (including the semis and the final), gymnastics, track and field, beach volleyball, diving, boxing, and fencing.
You will be able to view the content in the VR content via TV Anywhere on the NBC Sports app. However, you would need to have it authenticated through your pay TV provider. “We are thrilled to work with NBC and OBS on this first-of-its-kind endeavor, connecting fans right to the action in Rio, powered by 360-degree storytelling, virtual reality and our Galaxy phones,” said Marc Matthieu, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Electronics America.
The compatible Samsung smartphones for this special coverage are the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5. You will be able to experience this fully immersive Olympic experience when the games begin on August 5.
SOURCE: NBC
