T-Mobile has announced that nine companies will participate in this year’s T-Mobile Accelerator programme, which is designed to drive innovation in sports and entertainment through experiences that leverage 5G technology.
Over 70 companies from around the world applied, with T-Mobile choosing nine to further develop their technologies: App Cats, CUE Audio, FansXR, ForwARdgame, Immersal, MeetMo, Mindfly, PixelFly and Ydrive.
It is hoped the technologies developed by this year’s participants, paired with T-Mobile 5G, will “fundamentally change” the way fans engage with sports and other events.
Minneapolis-based App Cats’ CrowdSOLUTIONS platform creates opportunities for fans to interact through its 5G-enabled live streaming service, audience surveying tools and fan engagement rewards.
Denver-based CUE Audio has developed a fan-first technology that uses in-venue speakers and fans’ mobile devices to synchronise crowds of all sizes to capture simultaneous selfies, choreograph smartphone light shows, and host multiplayer trivia games.
FansXR, which is based in Las Vegas, delivers an ‘xtended reality’ streaming platform and can geolocate athletes in stadiums to offer an augmented reality overview of performance stats, game data and more.
Berlin-based ForwARdgame leverages new technologies to infuse the real world with virtual experiences, while Helsinki-based Immersal’s visual positioning technology can convert any venue into a spatial map that can support a range of AR experiences. Los Angeles-based MeetMo is a cloud-native platform connecting devices, people and ideas to facilitate real-time collaboration.
Tel Aviv-based Mindfly is a fully automated first-person-view (FPV) solution that enables fans to see, hear and feel what players and referees do during games. Minneapolis-based PixelFly specialises in live FPV drone coverage (pictured) for broadcast events, while Seattle-based Ydrive uses an AI platform to generate lifelike digital twins and 3D maps of venues.
John Saw, executive vice-president and chief technology officer at T-Mobile, said: “We created the Accelerator program to give innovators a platform to bring their ideas to life using our technologies.
“By leveraging T-Mobile 5G, this year’s group will have all the tools and support they need to expand their solutions and bring spectators at any event brand new immersive experiences.”
T-Mobile was the first company in the US to launch nationwide 5G technology in 2019. Its accelerator programme has worked with more than 30 startups to specifically drive 5G innovation and adoption across a range of industries.
