Every now and then, a new technology arrives to reshape how we enjoy horse racing. From radio to television and the internet, these tend to revolve around how we engage with the sport on an audio/visual level. Each step brings more detail, more convenience, and new ways to involve ourselves which were never before possible.
Today, the next big leaps in horse racing look like they might come from the world of augmented reality. For the right person, these systems and platforms could completely transform the racing experience, and they’re not as far-fetched as they might first seem.
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented reality is the process of overlaying a real physical environment with added digital components. This is achieved by having cameras in a device that track the environment around you, and then add digital elements via some kind of screen. This can be achieved on something as ubiquitous as a smartphone or as specialised as a dedicated headset.
The outcome of this process is something analogous to a hologram. It makes it appear as if computer-drawn apparitions occupy physical space, and with clever implementation, this can build systems and ways to engage that were never before possible.
The Transformative Racing Experience
Most users who choose to engage with AR will see the biggest advantages through its ability to relay races in real time into their homes. A cleared coffee table, for example, could be used to project a birds-eye-view of a race, providing total oversight to the competitors as they race. This is already being tried in other sports like basketball, and it looks promising in racing, where keeping an eye on the entire field is so important.
AR could also be used in real events to help give viewers real-time stat readouts of the horses and their jockeys. Instead of having to look up information online or flip through pamphlets, AR could scan a horse, recognise it, and relay all the relevant data about its past and performances. Whether you’re betting or just learning more about new names, this would be a helpful and streamlined way to get informed.
As for how necessary AR will be for enhancing your appreciation of racing, there isn’t a definitive answer here. Consider another form of entertainment which digital technology has revolutionised in casino online live games. These titles, like Roulette Live and Sakura Fortune, combine the convenience of at-home play with the feel of physical casino games, but they’re not a replacement for their original variants. Like AR and horse racing, these are more of an alternative to offer more to fans, helping create a more interactive online environment.
Though the implementation of this technology in the mainstream is still a few years away, the first early steps are already being explored. Don’t be surprised to see the big races increasingly lean into AR in the next few years, with smaller regional events soon to follow. For fans eager to try something new, it’s worth keeping an eye on to see what the next generation of racing could bring.