Can’t make it to Friday Night Lights? That’s not a problem if you’re a Union High School (Tulsa, Okla.) fan. The school has partnered with the University of Texas to build an innovative platform for students, parents and fans to watch football games and other events from afar.
The schools launched a virtual reality Metaverse experience for Friday night football, allowing fans to create an avatar and watch the game, go on the field, play games and even dump out Gatorade jugs, according to local Fox23 News reporting.
Union High School’s technology executive director, Todd Borland, told the outlet he has a friend at UT, where the technology was developed and launched. The university manages the tech while the high school helps update it with the assistance of students, who are learning to develop these types of concepts while maintaining the program. The goal is for them to continue their education in this futuristic technology at the next level.
This VR technology will be used for any live streams that the high school does, including large events like graduation.
See footage of the virtual reality program on the Fox 23 website, where reporters show the audience the setup, which includes a scaled replica of the stadium with a jumbotron flashing the Redhawks logo and a giant Union U at midfield.
So far this season, Union is 2-0 with an upcoming game against 1-2 Jenks (Okla.) on Friday night. The Redhawks are trying to fight for the title they came so close to last season when they fell to Owasso (Okla.) in a triple-overtime, 50-47 loss in the semifinals.
Fans will now be able to watch this chase virtual reality.
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