William Hill Betting: Get In The Race

UNIT9 production studio are experts in creating disruptive technology, and has made it its business to innovate with clients who dare to take a leap. One of whom is William Hill, one of the UK’s largest bookmakers for sports gambling. Partnering with UNIT9, William Hill wants to revolutionise live sports gambling by introducing a product that makes use of live data and virtual reality technology to enhance the live sports experience for consumers. William Hill and UNIT9’s ‘Get In The Race’ is the world's first product to deliver a live sports event in virtual reality for consumers. Currently at prototype stage, the objective is to let users experience a live horse race in a 3D virtual environment. The ‘Get In The Race’ MVP launch at the William Hill Digital Shoreditch panel today, to demonstrate the user experience potential of this revolutionary product. Panel attendees will be able to experience a past race - the 18.10 race on 18 February 2015 on the all weather track at Kempton Park. Using real data collected with GPS trackers placed on the horses, the MVP recreates the race in a sophisticated 3D virtual reality engine, using the same data that the final product will in real time. ‘Get In the Race’ features a 'Head Up Display'’, which users can activate when looking down at their horse, which displays its heart rate, stride length, distance remaining and race position. The experience will be completed with a re-engineered virtual reality Jockey Helmet, which users will wear while sitting on the back of a polygraphic Horse installation, to better enjoy their chosen jockey’s view. The advanced phase ‘Get In The Race’ product will allow customers to experience live horse races, real time from the point of view of the horse and jockey of choice. “Get in the race” will literally put you in the race. Using the latest GPS technology and a databank of tracks, horses and jockeys, the sophisticated system will recreate the races real time in a 360 virtual, game-like, environment that puts you in the “saddle”. Customers will only need a smartphone and Google Cardboard device (costing less than £8) to experience a revolutionary 3D experience, as if they were in the race itself.