VR may not have had as big an impact as hoped for the 2016 Rio Olympics, but Samsung is doing something a bit more interesting for the Summer Paralympics.
The Korean electronics giant is giving 30 Paralympians the chance to record 360 degree video blogs throughout the event as part of its ‘Symbols of Ability’ campaign. As revealed by the official International Paralympic Committee (IPC), athletes from around the world are currently busy recording behind-the-scenes footage of the games, which kicked off yesterday and run through to September 19th. We don’t know which camera they’re using, though it’s likely to be Samsung’s own consumer-grade product, the Gear 360.
Footage captured is on display at the Paralympic Village. Gear VR units are available at a special station for anyone to put on and watch. They’ll also include 360 footage of famous landmarks from around the Brazilian capital. For those at home, the athlete’s footage will be uploaded to the Paralympic YouTube account, though it doesn’t look like any of it is available yet.
Among the 30 athletes taking part in the blog series is the British Wheelchair Basketball player Abdi Jama, American Sitting Volleyball player Katie Holloway, and French Wheelchair Tennis player Michael Jeremiasz. Overall more than 10 countries are represented across a wide range of events.
Athletes will also be given a Galaxy S7 smartphone to watch the footage on. It’s a good thing they’re not being given the newer Galaxy Note 7 as they currently have the unfortunate tendency to explode. The handset is now being recalled, although not fast enough for customers in North America.
This is certainly a more interesting use for 360 video than we saw at the Rio Olympics last month. A selection of events were recorded for viewing inside Gear VR headsets, though none of it was live and not every sport was showcased. Hopefully we’ll see a much more impressive showing from VR at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Elsewhere at the Paralympics, Samsung also has a Gear VR 4D Experience Zone, showcasing new experiences for the headset including roller coaster rides and kayaking through water rapids.
