The 5G VISTA consortium, a UK consortium using 5G technologies to deepen audience engagement, broaden content for fans and create valuable new commercial opportunities, has announced a successful trial at a live football match.
Video in Stadia Technical Architecture (VISTA) takes advantage of 5G New Radio, enhanced Mobile Broadband, and 5G broadcast services, trialled with LTE feMBMS, to showcase new and exciting in-stadia digital experiences.
The project is designed to offer solutions to a number of pain points experienced by broadcasters and TV crews at events venues and stadiums. The consortium says in-stadia mobile connectivity for fans is notoriously weak, with challenges for large sporting venues in providing enough capacity to deliver enhanced spectator experiences at a reasonable cost. It adds that 5G broadcast allows these experiences at a cost advantage compared with more traditional cellular solutions.
Not only does 5G broadcast allow spectators to get even closer to the action at live events, it has the potential to overcome challenges associated with cabling and network complexity, and unstable 4G networks during events with a large number of attendees.
5G VISTA partners including Virgin Media O2, Rohde and Schwarz, DTG, GWS, Digital Catapult, Ori Industries, Imaginary Pictures, Ateme and the University of Surrey’s 5G/6G Innovation Centre joined sporting, tech and broadcast firms such as Microsoft, MK Dons, MK5G and the Open University to discuss business cases for live events solutions powered by 5G Broadcast.
The UK-first 5G broadcast trials at the MK Dons football stadium at the 30,400-seat MK Dons football stadium set to “revolutionise” fan experience. A group of lucky fans at the goalless draw between MK Dons and Ipswich Town on 12 February – which attracted a total crowd of 15,311 - were able to try out a prototype of the 5G VISTA app. This allowed them to view six, high-quality live streams of different perspectives of the game - including behind the scenes footage - with the tap of a screen.
The completion of the technical trial was followed by a final showcase of the project on 14 February as part of the MK5G Create event in the Marshall Arena, also at Stadium MK.
MK5G showcased a number of applications illustrating how major venues can harness 5G to operate in the future, including autonomous vehicles for transporting fans to and from the stadium, and AI-enabled traffic control onsite. These demonstrations included an drone race around the MK Dons football pitch - filmed from multiple perspectives using the 5G VISTA app, as the final milestone of the 5G VISTA project. This constituted the world’s first drone race broadcast in high definition, sponsored by Virgin Media O2 and organised by the British Drone Racing Association.
Both 5G VISTA and MK5G had received funding from the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport to boost live events using 5G. 5G VISTA was backed by £1.3 million, with a further £1 million contributed by partners.
The project is designed to offer solutions to a number of pain points experienced by broadcasters and TV crews at events venues and stadiums. The consortium says in-stadia mobile connectivity for fans is notoriously weak, with challenges for large sporting venues in providing enough capacity to deliver enhanced spectator experiences at a reasonable cost. It adds that 5G broadcast allows these experiences at a cost advantage compared with more traditional cellular solutions.
Not only does 5G broadcast allow spectators to get even closer to the action at live events, it has the potential to overcome challenges associated with cabling and network complexity, and unstable 4G networks during events with a large number of attendees.
5G VISTA partners including Virgin Media O2, Rohde and Schwarz, DTG, GWS, Digital Catapult, Ori Industries, Imaginary Pictures, Ateme and the University of Surrey’s 5G/6G Innovation Centre joined sporting, tech and broadcast firms such as Microsoft, MK Dons, MK5G and the Open University to discuss business cases for live events solutions powered by 5G Broadcast.
The UK-first 5G broadcast trials at the MK Dons football stadium at the 30,400-seat MK Dons football stadium set to “revolutionise” fan experience. A group of lucky fans at the goalless draw between MK Dons and Ipswich Town on 12 February – which attracted a total crowd of 15,311 - were able to try out a prototype of the 5G VISTA app. This allowed them to view six, high-quality live streams of different perspectives of the game - including behind the scenes footage - with the tap of a screen.
The completion of the technical trial was followed by a final showcase of the project on 14 February as part of the MK5G Create event in the Marshall Arena, also at Stadium MK.
MK5G showcased a number of applications illustrating how major venues can harness 5G to operate in the future, including autonomous vehicles for transporting fans to and from the stadium, and AI-enabled traffic control onsite. These demonstrations included an drone race around the MK Dons football pitch - filmed from multiple perspectives using the 5G VISTA app, as the final milestone of the 5G VISTA project. This constituted the world’s first drone race broadcast in high definition, sponsored by Virgin Media O2 and organised by the British Drone Racing Association.
Both 5G VISTA and MK5G had received funding from the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport to boost live events using 5G. 5G VISTA was backed by £1.3 million, with a further £1 million contributed by partners.
