Post by mikecubs on Mar 7, 2015 22:15:51 GMT -6
Is this future of broadcasting? Warriors’ Peter Guber thinks so
Warriors owner Joe Lacob gets most of the ink when it comes to telling the story behind his team’s amazing success. He’s the principal stakeholder. The guy who put the group together.
But Peter Guber — Lacob’s co-owner — is the mad scientist behind the scenes. He’s the Hollywood schmoozer who can mesmerize a room with his fast-talking shtick. The guy you want to have a martini with.
He also happens to be a guy who can see the future.
That much was evident Friday night at Oracle Arena, where an innovative group of tech types came out to show off what could be a true game-changer in broadcasting. A company called NextVR, based in Laguna Beach (Orange County), has come up with a broadcasting platform that allows you to put on a funky pair of goggles, plug in your smartphone and suddenly, magically, be standing courtside at an NBA game.
Players run past you as though you were at the scorer’s table, waiting to check in. You can follow the ball, or look up at the scoreboard. Shoot, you can watch the vendors walking up and down the aisles if you want. Bottom line is that the world of three-dimensional virtual reality is upon us. And it’s no surprise that Guber is one of the leading voices evangelizing the technology’s merits.
Keep innovating
“Innovation,” he says, in a gravelly voice that still has a hint of New York in it somewhere. “If you don’t have that, you have stagnation. Then eradication.”
It’s a classic Guber line, delivered with pure sincerity and belief. The former head of Sony Pictures made a fortune with movies like “Rain Man” and “Batman.” He knows how to pitch a product. But after all these years and all that money, he still gets excited by the latest shiny dime. He’s a true believer in change.
“If you can think of the conceit,” Guber says excitedly, urgently, “you are in charge. You are a participant instead of a passenger. This is a game-changer of location-based entertainment.”
It’s hard to argue.
NextVR is one of a handful of companies trying to capitalize on emerging virtual reality technology, both in the gaming and broadcasting space. This particular company has partnered its software and broadcast expertise with Facebook’s Oculus gaming technology, along with the muscle of Samsung’s hardware developers, to produce a device that’s truly remarkable.
During Friday night’s game, Guber tried on the device and watched a portion of the first quarter of the Warriors-Mavericks game from the owners’ private party pad, underneath the stands at Oracle Arena. “Fabulous,” he said, moving his head left to right, as if he was following the action on the court. That’s because he was. A single, courtside camera provides a 360-degree view of the action. And as Guber says, you’re in charge.
While there are market ready versions of the NextVR available right now, the technology is still probably a year or two from mass-market adoption. But if these virtual reality companies can make the right deals with pro sports ... and gaming companies ... and retailers ... the possibilities are truly endless. One NextVR executive estimated a market of 200,000 units. Within a few years, the company envisions a market of 200 million units.
Warriors’ role
That remains to be seen.
But Guber can see it. (“You could have five cameras!”) And he has made it not only possible, but paramount, for others in the Warriors’ organization to look for these kinds of breakthroughs.
The Warriors jumped on the chance to let their team be filmed by the new virtual technology. And this test was shared with the NBA office in New York, where presumably negotiations could — and should — begin toward making this technology available to the public.
In other words, although not personally invested — yet — the Warriors are behind the innovation.
“We’re invested in it because sports will drive any new technology,” said team President Rick Welts. “It’s easy to see the influence Peter has had on the culture. He gave us the permission to fail.”
In fact, that would be Kenny Lauer’s job. Guber brought him in to as the head of digital and marketing with the Warriors and told him he needed to take chances and fail. If Lauer couldn’t fail, they didn’t need him. (How’s that for a boss?)
Sound ideas
So, Lauer has been trying a number of ideas. One recent plan has the team recording the sounds on the floor — the squeaking shoes and referees’ whistle — and piping it up via speakers to the folks sitting in the upper deck. Might work. Might not. Guber’s signing the check either way.
“If you don’t improve your product all the time, the market will move away from you,” said Guber. “When you have a canvas like this, you try it, and if it doesn’t work, you’re not punished.”
Out on the court, the Warriors were punishing the Mavericks. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were innovating their own thing in the backcourt, creating a dynamic the NBA hasn’t really seen before. Steve Kerr breaks new ground as a rookie head coach every game.
Lacob sat courtside, cheering his team on. Guber sat five seats down, lost in thought.
Dreaming up ways of selling virtual popcorn. To virtual customers.
Al Saracevic is The San Francisco Chronicle’s sports editor. E-mail: asaracevic@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alsaracevic
The future of broadcasting?
I looked into a pair of virtual reality glasses at Friday night’s Warriors game and saw the future of broadcasting.
A software company called NextVR from Laguna Beach was on hand to demonstrate the latest technology used to broadcast something like an NBA game. And the Warriors-Mavericks game was a perfect test.
The device, made by Samsung in concert with Facebook’s Oculus and NextVR, works by snapping a Samsung 6 phone into the viewfinder of a device that looks like a pair of fancy ski goggles. The results are stunning. The game is shot using a 3-D courtside camera (shooting 60,000 frames per second) and beamed to the phone’s screen. Then the headgear translates it into a virtual reality, with very realistic depth.
“It’s intended to make you feel like you’re there,” said NextVR co-founder Dave Cole, who started the company in 2009 with business partner D.J. Roller.
Once the game action starts and you put the goggles on, the results are remarkable. You feel as if you’re standing courtside, and you can see the players running past you. You also have the ability to control the field of vision. You can look left, right, up or down. And you don’t have to follow the ball.
It’s like being there ... virtually. And that’s the whole point.
NextVR and its partners have a version of this technology available for sale already, although on a limited basis. They hope to make it a mass-market product in the next year or two.
www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Is-this-future-of-broadcasting-Warriors-Peter-6121330.php
Warriors owner Joe Lacob gets most of the ink when it comes to telling the story behind his team’s amazing success. He’s the principal stakeholder. The guy who put the group together.
But Peter Guber — Lacob’s co-owner — is the mad scientist behind the scenes. He’s the Hollywood schmoozer who can mesmerize a room with his fast-talking shtick. The guy you want to have a martini with.
He also happens to be a guy who can see the future.
That much was evident Friday night at Oracle Arena, where an innovative group of tech types came out to show off what could be a true game-changer in broadcasting. A company called NextVR, based in Laguna Beach (Orange County), has come up with a broadcasting platform that allows you to put on a funky pair of goggles, plug in your smartphone and suddenly, magically, be standing courtside at an NBA game.
Players run past you as though you were at the scorer’s table, waiting to check in. You can follow the ball, or look up at the scoreboard. Shoot, you can watch the vendors walking up and down the aisles if you want. Bottom line is that the world of three-dimensional virtual reality is upon us. And it’s no surprise that Guber is one of the leading voices evangelizing the technology’s merits.
Keep innovating
“Innovation,” he says, in a gravelly voice that still has a hint of New York in it somewhere. “If you don’t have that, you have stagnation. Then eradication.”
It’s a classic Guber line, delivered with pure sincerity and belief. The former head of Sony Pictures made a fortune with movies like “Rain Man” and “Batman.” He knows how to pitch a product. But after all these years and all that money, he still gets excited by the latest shiny dime. He’s a true believer in change.
“If you can think of the conceit,” Guber says excitedly, urgently, “you are in charge. You are a participant instead of a passenger. This is a game-changer of location-based entertainment.”
It’s hard to argue.
NextVR is one of a handful of companies trying to capitalize on emerging virtual reality technology, both in the gaming and broadcasting space. This particular company has partnered its software and broadcast expertise with Facebook’s Oculus gaming technology, along with the muscle of Samsung’s hardware developers, to produce a device that’s truly remarkable.
During Friday night’s game, Guber tried on the device and watched a portion of the first quarter of the Warriors-Mavericks game from the owners’ private party pad, underneath the stands at Oracle Arena. “Fabulous,” he said, moving his head left to right, as if he was following the action on the court. That’s because he was. A single, courtside camera provides a 360-degree view of the action. And as Guber says, you’re in charge.
While there are market ready versions of the NextVR available right now, the technology is still probably a year or two from mass-market adoption. But if these virtual reality companies can make the right deals with pro sports ... and gaming companies ... and retailers ... the possibilities are truly endless. One NextVR executive estimated a market of 200,000 units. Within a few years, the company envisions a market of 200 million units.
Warriors’ role
That remains to be seen.
But Guber can see it. (“You could have five cameras!”) And he has made it not only possible, but paramount, for others in the Warriors’ organization to look for these kinds of breakthroughs.
The Warriors jumped on the chance to let their team be filmed by the new virtual technology. And this test was shared with the NBA office in New York, where presumably negotiations could — and should — begin toward making this technology available to the public.
In other words, although not personally invested — yet — the Warriors are behind the innovation.
“We’re invested in it because sports will drive any new technology,” said team President Rick Welts. “It’s easy to see the influence Peter has had on the culture. He gave us the permission to fail.”
In fact, that would be Kenny Lauer’s job. Guber brought him in to as the head of digital and marketing with the Warriors and told him he needed to take chances and fail. If Lauer couldn’t fail, they didn’t need him. (How’s that for a boss?)
Sound ideas
So, Lauer has been trying a number of ideas. One recent plan has the team recording the sounds on the floor — the squeaking shoes and referees’ whistle — and piping it up via speakers to the folks sitting in the upper deck. Might work. Might not. Guber’s signing the check either way.
“If you don’t improve your product all the time, the market will move away from you,” said Guber. “When you have a canvas like this, you try it, and if it doesn’t work, you’re not punished.”
Out on the court, the Warriors were punishing the Mavericks. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were innovating their own thing in the backcourt, creating a dynamic the NBA hasn’t really seen before. Steve Kerr breaks new ground as a rookie head coach every game.
Lacob sat courtside, cheering his team on. Guber sat five seats down, lost in thought.
Dreaming up ways of selling virtual popcorn. To virtual customers.
Al Saracevic is The San Francisco Chronicle’s sports editor. E-mail: asaracevic@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alsaracevic
The future of broadcasting?
I looked into a pair of virtual reality glasses at Friday night’s Warriors game and saw the future of broadcasting.
A software company called NextVR from Laguna Beach was on hand to demonstrate the latest technology used to broadcast something like an NBA game. And the Warriors-Mavericks game was a perfect test.
The device, made by Samsung in concert with Facebook’s Oculus and NextVR, works by snapping a Samsung 6 phone into the viewfinder of a device that looks like a pair of fancy ski goggles. The results are stunning. The game is shot using a 3-D courtside camera (shooting 60,000 frames per second) and beamed to the phone’s screen. Then the headgear translates it into a virtual reality, with very realistic depth.
“It’s intended to make you feel like you’re there,” said NextVR co-founder Dave Cole, who started the company in 2009 with business partner D.J. Roller.
Once the game action starts and you put the goggles on, the results are remarkable. You feel as if you’re standing courtside, and you can see the players running past you. You also have the ability to control the field of vision. You can look left, right, up or down. And you don’t have to follow the ball.
It’s like being there ... virtually. And that’s the whole point.
NextVR and its partners have a version of this technology available for sale already, although on a limited basis. They hope to make it a mass-market product in the next year or two.
www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Is-this-future-of-broadcasting-Warriors-Peter-6121330.php