As detailed in a new report from Sportico today, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Apple CEO Tim Cook met today to “walk through the league’s new app for the platform and discuss the future of the at-home fan experience.”
One of the standout features of Vision Pro is Apple’s Immersive Video format, which offers 180-degree content in 8K 3D and Spatial Audio. According to Silver, the NBA is “already looking into how to incorporate” the cameras required to film Immersive Video into its events, “starting at All-Star Weekend in two weeks.”
“This is in many ways better than sitting courtside,” Silver said Friday. “It can take you anywhere on the floor. It can give you the perspective of a player … This will, to me, be how people over time experience sports.”
Tim Cook also noted that it’s no small feat for leagues like the NBA to create VR content. “It’ll take rethinking about production,” he explained. “You will have to re-engineer everything, but it’s so worth it. It’s hard to go back to the 2-D world, after you’ve been in the 3-D world.”
Silver added, “I think it’s my job to incentivize our partners to be able to look out into the future.”
The NBA app is available on Vision Pro today and is fully optimized for visionOS. There’s support for watching up to five broadcasts live or on demand with Multiview, real-time player and team stats, and more.
Check out the full piece at Sportico for more info.
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