Mar 7, 2016: From artificial intelligence based console gaming and role-playing to experiencing real sporting, virtual reality is reinventing the real ways. Rio Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, plus some of the more popular sports like swimming will be partially shot in virtual reality. And the listening experience also promises to be immersive, with the Olympic Broadcasting Services teasing “3D 22.2 channel surround sound, though with the $130,000 price tag it is a hard sell. Thankfully a lot more of us will be able to take advantage of the VR footage captured during the 2016 games. Again, this will focus on the most popular moments from Brazil, and you’ll be able to watch both live and on-demand if the time zone thing proves inconvenient.

We are not yet sure exactly who is handling the VR side of things or where you will be able to watch, but hopefully the OBS will try to include all possible VR spectators. We should know much more as the August games draw closer. Approximately 7000 hours of video will be recorded in all, and the Rio games are also being used to test downscaled 4K, HDR, and an expanded color gamut compared to previous broadcasts. Just do not expect to see any of that on your own TV, where (aside from Japan) the Olympics will be broadcast in 1080p.