Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. Guides

How to watch the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in VR

James Holloway
By

Let the games begin! The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo are in full swing, but instead of staring at a flat-screen TV thinking about what it would be like to actually be there in person, this year you can get closer to the action with VR. Here’s how!

Further reading

Hardware Requirements

To watch the 202o Tokyo Games in VR, you need an Oculus Quest or Oculus Quest 2 and the NBC Olympics VR by Xfinity app, available on the Oculus app store. In addition, this partnership with Xfinity allows Oculus users to host Watch Parties with up to three other Oculus friends exclusively in the U.S.

Recommended Videos

This viewing experience will allow all viewers to watch live and replay coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies and sports, including boxing, track and field, volleyball, basketball, and more. Additionally, pre-games leading up to the opening ceremony will be available.

Related

Do not let the name Xfinity scare you; you will be able to watch live events and full-event replays through authentication of your cable or satellite provider. The authentication is pretty simple: All you have to do is simply log in to your cable or satellite provider, which will grant you access to the live events. If you do not have a cable provider, you will only have access to the featured content available on the app.

In previous years of the event, VR was available to watch on smartphones via Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, and more.

What to expect from the VR experience

The experience with the NBC Olympics VR by Xfinity app places you right in the action. Since there will not be an audience in attendance, people who can view the event via VR will get a front-row view. The Oculus Quest allows this experience to be wireless. Users can either stand or sit down to view the event and utilize the Oculus controls to navigate the app and watch the various events that are taking place. This VR experience will give you a 360-degree view of the events. Furthermore, the featured content will show you various training that athletes partake in for The Games, and it even places you in Tokyo to learn more about them.

Note that not every sporting event taking place during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be available in VR. Virtual reality requires special cameras to be placed in various spots, and with sports such as cycling, you can imagine the technical undertaking to cover the track and the constant movements.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
James Holloway
James Holloway
Home Theater Writer
James is a techie at heart; he covers Home Theater and Gaming for Digital Trends with a focus on how to get the best out of…
Phone-based VR gets more social with Chromecast support on Samsung Gear VR
best tech under $100 Samsung Gear VR

If you are using a PC-based virtual reality system like the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, then you might be accustomed to displaying your VR experience on an external display for your friends to follow along. If you're using a phone-based VR headset, however, you have probably felt a bit more isolated.

That is because unlike the more expensive and powerful VR systems, phone-based systems have not supported streaming to an external display. As of Wednesday, that is changing as Oculus announced Chromecast support for the Samsung Gear VR headset.

Read more
Oculus VR CEO reveals that the first Rift headset has shipped
Oculus Rift

And so it begins. Just as GPUs changed the way we played games on PCs back in the mid-1990's, and the Apple iPhone changed the way we converse and consume media on the go in the 2000's, the Oculus Rift has arrived and will change the way we interact with machines from here on out. Welcome to a new world.

Honestly, you have to strap on the Rift to understand what the fuss is all about. Sure, you may have played around with Google Cardboard, and it’s a cool cheap thrill, but that experience is nothing compared to what the Rift can generate. It’s truly immersive, and removes the constraints generated by normal everyday apps and games. Look over your shoulder and you’re still on that virtual roller coaster. You can even watch butterflies flap around your face that “feel” like they’re really there.

Read more
You can pre-order the Samsung Gear VR headset for $100 right now
the new samsung gear vr will retail for 99 peter koo svp technology strategy at 1

During September's Oculus Connect 2 keynote, Samsung's Peter Koo announced the consumer edition of its Gear VR headset. The device is a collaboration between Samsung and Oculus, and Koo made the object of this partnership clearer than ever, stating that the new version of the Gear VR aims to "take virtual reality mainstream." To that end, the device will launch at the potentially market-disrupting price of $100.

Updated on 11-10-2015 by Andy Boxall: Added in news the consumer edition of the Gear VR can be pre-ordered at Best Buy.
Where can you buy it?
On November 10, the consumer edition of the Gear VR went up for pre-order at Best Buy, where it's sold for $100, with an anticipated delivery date of November 20. The headset comes with a 16GB MicroSD card pre-loaded with a selection of 360-degree movies, and 3D movie trailers. The Gear VR also streams from Vimeo and Netflix, plus can play content from Samsung's own Milk VR service.

Read more