Premier League champion Manchester City has unveiled its first virtual reality stadium, topped with an overland climbing wall, by using VR technology developed by Sony. The venture was supported by virtual reality specialists from Sony.
HTAC’s 9,000-capacity stadium, the Etihad Stadium, will be transformed into the centerpiece of the club’s virtual world, with the help of image analysis and skeletal tracking technology developed by Hawkeye, a subsidiary of the tech and entertainment giant.
The ultimate goal of the virtual stadium, according to the club, is to fill its capacity on a number of occasions, allowing City fans who may never travel to Manchester to watch live matches involving their club from the comfort of their homes.
Sony has announced a three-year deal with Manchester City in 2021, seeking to develop new, digital-based fan experiences. A report called that the company’s experts have already visited the Etihad Stadium to digitally map it in order to create a virtual version of it.
Manchester City is once again shown as a leading light in the metaverse space to enhance the overall experience of the club’s fandom globally, which is definitely encouraging from the club’s perspective as a global supporters’ club.