How will 5G transform the experience for sports fans, as well as for media and service providers within stadiums? Reliving a goal in 3D video on your phone, sharing immersive experiences, producing live broadcasts remotely… The Orange Vélodrome in Marseille already allows us to glimpse the future of sporting events.
On Tuesday, October 11, 2022, Orange 5G Lab organized a webinar on the theme of the ‘augmented stadium’ through the 5th generation mobile network at the Orange Vélodrome in Marseille, the ‘first Smart Stadium’ in France, following the installation of an Orange 5G Lab site and a 5G network for today and especially for tomorrow to invent and anticipate new uses. This was an opportunity to review the main advancements enabled by 5G in the fields of audiovisual and event management, including:
- Guillaume Chabas, Director of Business Innovation and Partnerships at Orange
- Emmanuelle Roger, Co-founder and CEO of the startup Immersiv.io
- Jacques Donat-Bouillud, Director of Network Development for Broadcasting and Distribution at France Télévisions
- Fabrice Colusso, Head of B2B Business Europe at Sony
The Orange Vélodrome in Marseille, the first stadium connected with 5G.
Orange offers demonstration and experimentation locations for 5G across France and in the countries where the Group operates. Businesses of all sizes, as well as local authorities, can develop new products and services there.
Located in the heart of the Orange Vélodrome in Marseille, with its 67,000 seats, this Orange 5G Lab focuses on sports events and connectivity in stadiums. Orange is adopting a co-innovation approach with partners from various sectors, aiming to reinvent the services offered in stadiums and develop immersive experiences for spectators.
Guillaume Chabas, who leads the Orange 5G Lab in Marseille, explains the project’s origins: « The goal was to develop a 5G ecosystem on-site during real matches, allowing for end-to-end experimentation and enabling companies to test the technology in a full-scale laboratory. »
At the Orange Vélodrome, the 5G Lab collaborates with diverse partners:
- End clients such as media broadcasters on production topics,
- Startups bringing innovations and developing services,
- Equipment manufacturers envisioning future devices and related applications.
Together, all these stakeholders are designing new business models around 5G and testing them to anticipate and validate the benefits of 5G. All of this is with the 2024 Olympics in sight, as being able to provide connectivity and high-speed internet in sports infrastructures will obviously be a major challenge to ensure the success of this globally viewed competition…
The Smart Stadium, a concept fueled by startups
Emmanuelle Roger leads the startup Immersiv.io, which offers augmented reality services for sports fans. As part of the partnership with the 5G Lab at the Orange Vélodrome, she is developing a whole new way to enjoy matches by enriching the fan experience with real-time data at the heart of the action. Supporters have access to real-time information (game stats, player speed, real-time positioning, pass distribution) within their field of vision on their smartphones. Fans can also replay a goal in 3D on their device !
According to her, 5G plays « an essential role due to its very low latency, which eliminates any delay between what fans see in the stadium and what they view on their smartphones. » Moreover, augmented reality is now a mature technology that can be made accessible to everyone, knowing that « more than 3 billion smartphones are currently compatible. »
Thanks to numerous tests during matches, the startup has been able to learn and improve its solution, pushing the product even further. The solution works with football and other sports like hockey, for example.
Her vision for the future: According to Emmanuelle Roger, 5G will facilitate the arrival of augmented reality (AR) glasses in the stadium and virtual reality (VR) headsets for home use, without needing to use a smartphone or TV. This technology will also develop the concept of the «5th stand,» allowing fans from around the world to connect to sporting events and share their emotions together: « by connecting remote fans with those in the stadium, within synchronized experiences and the metaverse. »
Sports event management in 5G from the broadcasters’ perspective
On his side, Jacques Donat-Bouillud, Director of Broadcasting and Distribution Network Development at France Télévisions, closely monitors all these new uses to provide the best experience for viewers. He mentions that public broadcasting is testing several applications at the Orange Vélodrome 5G Lab:
- A wireless camera connected via 5G to the centralized control room of the channel to film matches, “a technology already used for news.”
- Remote production, which eliminates the need to move entire teams with production trucks, thus saving on travel and logistics costs.
- Broadcasting events on smartphones in 5G mode, offering guaranteed service quality even in a crowded stadium, without being limited by a maximum number of viewers.
For him, «5G has the merit of being a unified standard, used by everyone, facilitating interoperability between different stakeholders as well as the hybridization of devices, which reduces costs and allows for the production of many things for the global market.» This technology will also accelerate mobile viewing, which currently has a low audience due to insufficient bandwidth and latency. Jacques Donat-Bouillud believes that «5G addresses this issue.»
His vision for the future: He anticipates that 5G will optimize the production of sports content, improve its quality, while reducing costs. Regarding the 2024 Olympics: «This technology will allow the French to continue watching events in excellent quality during their travels and offer them a new way to watch by immersing themselves in the action.»
The impact of the 5G revolution on camera manufacturers
According to Fabrice Colusso, in charge of B2B activities at Sony in Europe, 5G offers manufacturers the opportunity to provide a better user experience and, above all, to unleash their creativity. During the webinar, he presented a new camera aimed at professionals, particularly in media: a 4K HDR camera that connects remotely to control rooms, stating that « thanks to 5G, this camera can be placed anywhere, infinitely multiplying the number of viewpoints in stadiums.»
Among the numerous benefits of 5G for Sony devices and other connected cameras are: high upload speeds, no latency or delay, immediacy, mobility, etc. This will provide fans with a radically new user experience and allow for enhanced creativity among sports content producers.
With the 5G Lab at the Orange Vélodrome, Sony benefits from a stable network to test many things. For example, for professional photographers, « the transport of massive amounts of data at very high speeds, such as the bulk upload of photos to develop instant broadcasting on media and social networks.»
His vision for the future: 5G paves the way for slicing, a technology that will enhance service quality on certain bands or prioritize specific uses. For example, to « ensure maximum service quality on the right camera, at the right time, to ensure it doesn’t cut out.»
Watch the full webinar « Smart Stadium 5G: a revolution for media and fans. »
Find out more
- SMART STADIUM – The 5G revolution is underway in stadiums !
- AUGMENTED ACOUSTICS – Enhanced audio in stadiums with Augmented Acoustics.
- VOGO – Vogo expands its video broadcasting offering on 5G in stadiums.
- AVIWEST – Professional photos in real-time thanks to AVIWEST and 5G.
Subscribe to our Orange 5G Lab newsletter
