Good news, Olympics fans:
NBC has announced that it plans to broadcast at least 85 hours of the Rio Olympics in virtual reality this August, making the 2016 Olympiad the largest scale event to experiment with VR programming.
The big catch: it’ll only work for owners of Samsung smartphones who have the Samsung Gear VR headset.
Should that be you, you’ll be able to watch the opening and closing ceremonies, and the most popular games (men’s basketball, beach volleyball, boxing et. al.) in full 360 tilt. And if you’re really observant, you might just be lucky enough to — as reported just this week — catch a dead body washing up on the beach.
Well that got dark quick.
But let’s be real: the best thing about watching the Olympics in VR? The fact that you won’t actually be in Rio. With the games just two months away, everything seems to be pointing to complete, utter failure. And the list of concerns are mounting: police protests, their mascot — a jaguar from the Amazon — being shot dead after a torch ceremony, financial woes and the threat of Zika virus only scratch the surface.
So, good luck with that, NBC. We look forward to watching your reality.
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