Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 SF and Xperiel go tech.
With the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 Tournament beginning at San Francisco’s AT&T Park on July 20, Rugby World Cup Sevens event organizers and Xperiel are digitizing traditional in-stadium activities to make them more widely accessible to fans.
Anyone with the Rugby World Cup Sevens app – available on Android or iOS – will be able to interact with Xperiel’s Real World Web (RWW) platform and will be able to take advantage of breaks between the matches to play the Rugby World Cup Sevens augmented reality “Cannonballs” game. The activation allows everyone to play a fan-favorite the – t-shirt cannon – from anywhere in the stadium, even in places the physical cannon cannot reach, such as the highest stadium seats.
This new RWW activation converts the stadium’s jumbotrons into massive “augmented reality cannons” with which fans can interact using their mobile phones. While videos play on the big screens showing digital objects being launched, users aim their smartphones at the screens to see virtual balls being thrown towards them. By clicking on the AR balls exactly in the cross hairs of their smartphone screens, fans can “catch” them and win real physical prizes, available for collection in the stadium, courtesy of Global Innovation Partner, Capgemini.
“Rugby is always looking for ways to deliver fresh, engaging experiences to the legions of fans at the heart of our organization. We’re excited to work with Xperiel to make it possible for us to bring ground-breaking augmented reality experiences that leverages the technological innovation of Silicon Valley to the fans attending the event from all over the world,” said Rosie Spaulding, General Manager of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 tournament.
The Xperiel platform makes it possible to merge the Internet of Things (IoT) and AR to make the world “clickable” and part of a diverse network of connected devices called the Real World Web. The company helps brands to deliver augmented reality and IoT experiences via personal devices and location-based infrastructure.
“Digitizing the fan experience is a great example of how traditionally low-tech activities are receiving a high-tech makeover,” said Alex Hertel, CEO, Xperiel. “With the growing popularity of rugby, we hope to provide an increasing number of fans with exciting, interactive ways to participate and engage with their new favorite sport.”
Working together with sensors, geotags and real-time data, companies can create a seamless physical-digital experience for consumers. In the attention economy, where brands need to connect with potential customers in seconds, Xperiel’s mission is to build technology that can leverage the IoT to make any part of the physical world, including stadiums like AT&T Park, digitally interactive.
Hertel explained, “Since this is the first Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament held in North America, we wanted to help spectating fans become active participants in the festivities by using the mobile devices already in their hands in a new, meaningful way.”
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 will be hosted from 20-22 July at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. Tickets are available: https://www.rwcsevens.com/tickets
The Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 app can be downloaded via the Apple App Store and Google Play.