The latest version of Eurosport’s Cube extended reality studio comes to Tokyo 2020

The Cube extended reality studio is at the heart of Eurosport’s (Discovery) coverage of Tokyo 2020.

This interactive space benefits from a variety of advanced graphics solutions to provide a comprehensive analysis of the day’s action in great detail. Cube, an initiative led by Eurosport, is able to offer up to seven different real-time immersive video locations and 360-degree beauty shots with Tokyo as a backdrop. It also offers other features that are common in this type of studio, such as cameras capable of panning through the digital environment and panoramic shots of the virtualized space.

Scott Jung, senior vice president of content and production at Discovery Sports, called Cube “an incredible piece of immersive technology.” This is not the first time it will be used for sports coverage, having been put to the test at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and several Grand Slam tournament broadcasts.

Sports analysis

Greg Rutherford, London 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the long jump event, has seen first-hand the tool’s potential: “Using this enhanced augmented graphics technology analysis is so exciting. What it has shown me about the technical elements of my London 2012 winning jump is mind blowing. I had no idea about this cool stuff.”

“I’ve been able to clearly see how my penultimate stride – crucial in long jump – was way longer than it should have been from a technique point of view; and I did a ‘clutch jump’, which could have been potentially disastrous, as I’d previously ruptured my hamstring from this jump position,” he says, accounting for the Cube system’s visualization options.

Tokyo 2020 coverage

Eurosport is providing extensive coverage of Tokyo 2020 through platforms such as discovery+, Eurosport Und Eurosport App. The “Discovery Team” consists of nearly 150 experts and presenters. With 84 Olympic medals in 198 Olympic Games appearances, the team will operate both in Tokyo and from local hubs “in-country.”

In the words of Andrew Georgiou, President of Sports at Discovery, “Our mission for Tokyo 2020 is to unlock the power of the Olympics. Innovative, immersive technology such as the Cube is one of the ways that Discovery will enable the audience to take this journey with us. The Cube will be a significant part of what makes our coverage unique, alongside an unrivalled line-up of sports stars and experts, spanning our key markets.”