Fox Sports Brings Virtual Reality to NASCAR With NextVR

Fox Sports is exploring virtual reality with NextVR, a technology company that captures and delivers live and on-demand virtual reality experiences, according to the Associated Press.

The network tested the experience last weekend at Auto Club Speedway in California, where NextVR enabled the live streaming of the race in virtual reality. NextVR’s software application, which is embedded in a mobile phone that is then connected to a Samsung Gear VR headset, enables viewers to experience the event as if they were there.

The footage was streamed to Fox Sports executives and producers working from the at-track television compound. Two cameras captured 180-degree and 360-degree views from an area on pit road and a second spot between the track and the pits.

“NextVR has spent the last six years perfecting their VR technology, which made them the logical first choice for Fox Sports to partner with for this test,” says Mike Davies, Fox Sports senior vice president of field operation. “NextVR currently is one of the only companies with the ability to transmit live in VR, and their technology is built on a broadcast platform, making it infinitely scalable.”