Telecoms giant Orange is using this year’s French Open tennis tournament to showcase its 5G capabilities as it broadcasts the first-ever live 8K TV images from Roland Garros.
Orange, a partner of Roland Garros for almost 20 years, is working with the French Tennis Federation and France Télévisions to air coverage from the Philippe-Chatrier court on giants screens and 5G mobile phones at two specially created showrooms at the venue.
For the first time at the French Open, France Télévisions’ 8K cameras, located on the Philippe-Chatrier court with their real time data processing platform, will broadcast live to Orange’s local 5G transmitters deployed especially for the event. France Télévisions’ sports newsroom will test, in real conditions, Orange’s new 5G broadcasting performance to film their coverage using mobile cameras.
The coverage will be demonstrated in the showrooms on the very first 5G smartphones by Oppo, a premium partner of Roland-Garros, and on a panoramic display wall.
“5G will offer speeds up to five times faster than 4G for ever more immersive experiences,” said an Orange spokesperson. “It will also make it possible to offer high-speed broadband in countries where there is little fibre infrastructure.
“Lastly, the 5G networks will transform companies’ business models, propelling them into the age of real-time, thanks to excellent speeds, latency and reliability, and its ability to adapt to each person’s requirements.”
In further fan engagement activations at Roland Garros, Orange is also offering fans the opportunity to watch a tennis match broadcast in mixed reality via Magic Leap One headsets.
“Mixed reality adds, on top of augmented reality, animated projected images, perfectly synchronised with reality, to create a new world combining reality and virtual reality,” an Orange spokesperson said. “In this new world, the user can interact or take control of all the virtual aspects.
“Visitors will be able to interact with the projected images and move around to choose the best viewpoint. Immersive and interactive uses that will soon spread thanks to 5G’s excellent specifications.”
Orange has also created Tournament Assistant, an AI mobile phone service that answers oral and written questions to help improve visitors’ experience at the event.
Image: Roman Boed
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