Dive Brief:
- Accenture has entered the sixth year as the official technology partner of the RBS 6 Nations Rugby Championship and this year will allow fans to broadcast their own immersive VR experience and offer a fan dashboard with insights from former players and coaches that uses machine learning to improve the accuracy and depth of the insights, according to a company press release.
- The VR experience puts one user interacting with players on a virtual playing pitch as the dashboard displays team and player analytics. The mixed reality element comes into play as onlookers can watch the VR user’s point of view, allowing more people to experience the virtual action.
- “We’re bringing the latest digital technologies to this year’s championship to deliver new experiences with people as the focus. The innovations we’re making around the RBS 6 Nations are also applicable for businesses. Just as players are unpredictable, so are customers. It’s important for any entity – sporting, business or otherwise – to be agile and innovate constantly,” said Nick Millman, managing director, Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital, in the press release.
Dive Insight:
Many of the more entertainment-oriented uses for emerging technologies like VR and machine learning are also proof-of-concept and test cases for business use, as well as a user-friendly way to get people used to interacting with technology and hardware devices that might otherwise be intimidating. Millman's comments indicate this is the case for Accenture's new rugby efforts.
Until recently, VR was a very gaming-centric technology, but businesses are increasingly thinking about enterprise uses such as product demonstrations for B2B marketers and even for more considered consumer purchases like automobiles or furniture. Another use has been for immersive storytelling.
Accenture joins Intel in leveraging a popular living sporting event as a way to introduce consumers to new applications for emerging technology. Intel Corp.'s Super Bowl campaign highlights the brand's 360 replay technology, with 38 cameras installed throughout the stadium so that key moments in the game can be paused and viewed from every angle in 3-D.