The International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 will officially get the Apple Vision Pro treatment with the launch of the ICC Immersive app created by Quidich Innovation Labs. Branded HypeReality, the app allows Apple Vision Pro users to watch replays of key Super 8 highlights from the T20 World Cup 2024 within an immersive graphical representation of the entire pitch, taking the experience of watching a highlight to new levels of engagement.
“Imagine putting yourself in the batter’s shoes,” he says. Rahat Kulshreshtha, co-founder of Quidich Innovation Labs. “With the ICC Immersive app, you will see the ball being thrown towards you from the batsman’s perspective at the key moments of each highlight. You can even tap any player to see their profile and previous performance statistics. “It is a truly immersive way to experience cricket and offers a glimpse into the future of sports viewing.”
According to ICC Digital boss Finn Bradsham, The ICC is always looking for ways to use new technology and data to bring fans closer to the action. To see how the app works.
“Apple Vision Pro gave us a unique platform to create fully immersive experiences,” he says. “We believe this will be a great way for existing fans to delve deeper into the game they love and will help explain our sport to the many new fans we have reached following the success of the games in the US.”
Kulshreshtha sees Apple Vision Pro and immersive experiences as the future of sports viewing, overcoming the limitations of traditional high-definition broadcasts: “Traditional sports production has stagnated. We’ve maximized camera positions, microphones, and even resolution and color depth. Going from 4K to 8K offered minimal improvement and surround sound is now commonplace. “The next frontier lies in exploring the captivating world of immersive 3D experiences.”
Apple Vision Pro allows cricket fans to position themselves right in the middle of the field while watching highlights.
It remains to be seen, he adds, whether the ultimate experience will be a fully immersive VR experience or a more subtle enhancement through layered 3D content, but leagues around the world must start experimenting in this space. “The first time I used the Apple Vision Pro I knew the form factor and quality of the devices had arrived,” he says. “It’s still very expensive, for sure, but I think it’s set the benchmark for everyone as to what the experience can be like.”
The app itself is a technological marvel and the culmination of years of work and planning. “We have been working on this idea for years,” reveals Kulshreshtha. “ICC Immersive combines our cutting-edge tracking technology (QT Tracker) with data from WSC and CricViz. It’s a seamless integration that ensures you have the most accurate and detailed information at your fingertips.”
It is also fully automated, making it more efficient in terms of workflows and ensuring super timely content. “The moment ICC displays the highlights,” says Kulshreshtha, “it is fed into a server and sent to the device.”
The app was developed in less than eight weeks after ICC and Apple decided that Quidich is perfectly positioned to develop it, says Kulshreshtha. “It’s ridiculous to do this in eight weeks, but, because of some of the products we’ve already launched, a lot of the hard work was already done, such as creating 3D models of the stadiums. We currently have almost 60 stadiums mapped around the world to a centimeter level of precision. This project worked in parallel with some of the products we make for broadcast, as we also understand data integration very well.”
Although the app took less than eight weeks to create, years of planning and data collection ensured it was done right. According to Kulshreshtha, Quidich has been working on HypeReality for about three years.
He adds that the Apple Vision Pro is the first virtual reality headset he’s seen and that it’s great for content consumption. “On my flight to New York, I spent three hours watching a movie on the device and didn’t get a headache. He felt comfortable. And the picture quality is much higher than what you see on TV because you have 4K in each eye. When someone from the ICC used it, he said, ‘Now I know what 4K is like.’”
He also believes that Apple Vision Pro can bring back shared experiences in a world where apps have people on their phones and in a very isolated consumption model.
“The beauty of this app,” he explains, “is that it goes beyond just the immersive experience. Since FaceTime works seamlessly with most iOS devices, you can share your live ICC Immersive experience with anyone in your contact list. Imagine virtually placing your friend next to you on the field, and you both watch the action unfold from the heart of the stadium. Cricket, with its 360-degree nature, is perfect for this shared experience. You can discuss player positioning, how it affects batter strategy, and the overall flow of the game, all in real-time. “This level of interactivity takes highlight viewing to a whole new level.”
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