Handball Bundesliga club becomes a pioneer in VR

World premiere last Wednesday morning at the SAP Arena in Mannheim. With "VR Löwen: Your Team?Your World", the Rhein-Neckar Löwen are presenting the foundations for a unique immersive experience concept. Standing next to the drummers in the fan block or looking over the players' shoulders in the dressing room at the touch of a button - that's what the Rhein-Neckar Löwen want to offer their fans from the coming season. Virtual reality in combination with headphones makes it possible.

Encounter with holograms

As an added value of this special "live communication", audio-visual holograms of match days and special encounters with the handball stars will be possible in the new "VR Löwen Welt" in future. As the innovative 3D audio technology appeals to all the senses via the ear, visitors to the "VR Löwen Welt" will experience the action on and off the court "live" and - as another unique feature - just as emotionally as in reality. Access to the "VR Löwen Welt" is via smartphone, with commercially available headphones and a branded cardboard in the "VR Löwen look". Alternatively, professional Gear VR glasses can also be used. To bring fans and the team even closer together from the coming season, an immersive "VR Löwen App" is currently being developed with the technology and creative partners in the "VR Löwen Team". Navigation in the "VR Löwen World" is intuitive and requires no explanations. Instead of mouse clicks, control is by means of eye contact.

In collaboration with the Bundesliga handball club, Media Apes has designed a first teaser that enables a virtual walk through the SAP Arena - the Lions' home ground - via VR glasses and headphones and provides insights that are otherwise only available to staff. "As the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, we want to be the most innovative club and give both our fans and our sponsors a new dimension of closeness and contact," says Jennifer Kettemann, Managing Director of Rhein-Neckar Löwen.

The Bundesliga handball club also expects the collaboration with technology partner Media Apes to bring added value in sporting terms. For example, Oliver Roggisch, Sporting Director of the Lions, wants to have moves rehearsed and perfected using VR glasses. "That certainly works better and, above all, more vividly than doing it from a bird's eye view on the magnetic board," says the former international.

Source: sponsors / handball-world