UPDATED 04:44 EDT / NOVEMBER 04 2016

NEWS

Intel acquires live sports virtual reality firm Voke

Intel Corp. has acquired live sports virtual reality firm Voke for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2004, Voke specializes in providing technology that allows media companies to build live and on-demand virtual reality experiences across multiple mediums, including on their own channels and via branded apps. According to Recode, Voke’s technology is able to capture live sports events in stereo so that it can be viewed from different angles while maintaining a sense of depth and proportion, with the video itself able to be viewed on devices including VR headsets, phones, tablets and PCs.

Voke’s TrueVR platform has previously been used to stream live shows and events, including the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, New York Fashion Week, the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup and live streams of concerts, NBA, NFL and college football games. “By combining our best in class TrueVR technology platform with Intel’s technologies and commitment to building unprecedented user experiences, we plan to completely change the way fans engage with and experience live events,” Voke Co-founder Jay Jayaram said in a statement.

The acquisition was described by Intel as being part of their strategy to build a broad portfolio of technologies to cater for the emerging virtual reality live sports market.

“Sports is being revolutionized by data and the ability to capture, connect, analyze and interact with it,” Intel Sports Group General Manager James Carwana said in an announcement post. “We call this the digitization of sports. At Intel, we’re building a broad portfolio of best-in-class solutions to deliver new, immersive sports experiences for athletes, fans, and content producers.”

This isn’t Intel’s first acquisition in the space, with the chip giant in March acquiring Replay Technologies, a company that provides immersive 360-degree video replays on traditional television.

Prior to acquisition, Voke had $12.5 million in a March 2016 Series A round led by none other than Intel Capital, Intel’s venture capital arm, that also included Nautilus Venture Partners and A+E Networks. It’s not clear from reports when the deal will close.

Image credit: Voke

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