Event Experience Features

When designing event watching experiences, there are several topics that can be of importance. Depending on the type of event, the use case, the target platforms, and the content licensing situation, the focus may be on different elements.

For example, if multiview access is possible from both a technical and licensing perspective, the experience may be different from one that only contains match stats, community features, and therefore other types of content are required.

At NativeWaves, we have successfully created a range of different experiences in various types of sports and are happy to share our expertise and the learnings we made. When we think about event watching experience features, we generally categorize them as follows.

Typical broadcast live production uses anywhere from one to several dozen cameras to create an engaging experience. In addition to the main cameras, this can also include special cameras or views such as Spidercams, body cams, Hawkeye, behind-the-goal cameras etc.

All of these camera feeds are available to the director who decides which camera will be on air at any given time. For some of the cameras, this means just a few seconds of on-air time per hour. However, the feeds from these cameras are available constantly. NativeWaves EXP maximizes the investment into all of these camera feeds by making them available to users as part of the app experience.

This enhances the personalization opportunities by simply leveraging the content that is already available as part of the production.

Another excellent personalization option is the ability for users to select among different audio commentary options. This can include audio tracks in different languages, clean audio but can also enable commentary tracks from various influencers or superfans.

NativeWaves EXP lets you specify "global audio tracks" that play independently of the video and are not interrupted even when the user switches between different video tracks.

The synchronized second screen experience also allows users who are following the same event on a big screen to still get customized audio experiences via headphones etc.

Today's audiences, especially among younger demographics, are looking for deeper data and analytics. Usually, these are available via different data sources on various websites. NativeWaves EXP unifies the viewing experience in one app with all camera feeds along with the matching game data in the form of overlays and interactive data components, thereby keeping the user's attention within the context of the event distributed by the rightsholder.

Advanced timeline management within NativeWaves EXP enables seamless navigation of highlights and replays that offers users personalized event experiences. Watching instant replays of goals, fouls etc. from any camera angle is now possible without the need to wait for the broadcast feed to show these based on decisions by the director.

The advanced overlays available in NativeWaves EXP lend themselves to support community features such as chat, voting, as well as the integration of existing social media feeds from Twitter, Facebook etc. to offer users the ability to customize their dashboard for each of their favorite event experiences.

Game analytics are evolving fast with the help of AI allowing for game data to be delivered in real-time during live events. This information offers deeper insights but also opens up new use cases such as live data visalizations even when the broadcast signal is not available due to rights constrains etc. On-body sensors deliver critical player or driver data that allows for an even more immersive experience. Video-based extraction of critical game data and stats is quickly accelerating, complementing and in some cases taking over from sensor-based data, allowing for faster and even more comprehensive coverage.

AI is also enabling the quick and efficient assembly of highlights, special moments, beauty shots and slow-motion replays of the most relevant part of an event. This data allows us to create special, personalized suggestions to users, recommending the right set of camera views at the right time based on team, player or driver preferences coupled with match or race context. NativeWaves EXP is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this data to create the ultimate viewing experience.

Rights holders have been looking into new revenue streams and TV-based sports betting is quickly gaining tractions in many parts of the world. Ultra-low-latency delivery of live events enable sports betting on mobile devices for the first time ever. NativeWaves EXP and its built-in low-latency streaming capability lends itself perfectly to these new use cases.

Initial trials with platforms such as Microsoft PlayFab and other backend providers for gamification components offer promising perspectives on how all of these components can be combined into new experiences that will keep audiences engaged.

Similar to gamification and betting, e-commerce is another area that offers monetization opportunities for fandoms, be it for traditional broadcast/streaming content or esports. Being able to offer the right product with the right discount at the right moment maximizes impulse buying opportunities that so far have not been available in this space. The architecture of NativeWaves EXP allows for interfacing with additional providers to enable customized solutions for all sorts of entertainment content.