According to a Spanish report, Apple is in talks with Real Madrid football club to install the special technology at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the country’s capital. It aims to help create immersive videos of top club games for consumption on the Vision Pro mixed reality headset. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez said, “Everyone wants to come to the Santiago Bernabéu. So we are in talks with Apple so you can wear their glasses and watch the game as if you were in the stadium.” The project was talked about as the “infinite Santiago Bernabéu”.
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Instead of a ticket to the stadium: put Vision Pro
Seats at Real Madrid’s home stadium are extremely popular, with long wait times and resale not officially allowed. It would be ideal to be able to deliver an immersive video experience that goes far beyond what you see on television. According to sports portal Marca, Real Madrid wants to stay here Be a “Leader”.What this means technically and what renovation work is necessary at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, which is located on the famous Paseo de la Castellana highway, has not yet been revealed.
Apple already offers various short films from sporting events, including films from the US soccer league Major League Soccer (MLS). They show highlights of clubs like Inter Miami. However, entire games have not yet been broadcast as immersive videos; At the moment the recordings still look like a showcase. Apple has already purchased the necessary rights to MLS as part of its streaming service TV+, but how this will be possible in relation to Real Madrid is unclear.
Find the killer app
Thanks to two 4K micro-OLED screens, the Vision Pro offers a higher resolution that is significantly higher than that known from the Meta Quest. But in Europe the headset costs at least 4,000 euros. The killer app for the glasses is still pending, even though Apple will soon release VisionOS 2.2 for the Mac Virtual Desktop, a panorama and widescreen mode with which the Vision Pro can become a giant screen (and even more). It is also often used to enjoy (3D) movies.
At Real Madrid, Apple would arrive at the right time for a comprehensive transformation of the stadium: it is currently in the renovation phase. For the iPhone company, it’s probably mainly about a suitable camera mount and other adjustments that can later be installed permanently. It is still unclear whether Apple will reach a commercial agreement with Real Madrid. The company did not immediately comment on the report.
(B.Sc.)
