Those attending next month’s U.S. Open in New York will have a chance to play tennis with Maria Sharapova … kind of.
American Express, which is sponsoring professional tennis’ fourth annual major, is hosting a neat experience that lets fans strap on a HTC Vive and “play” against a virtual version of Sharapova.
“For the fans that don’t have a chance to play against me, this will be pretty close to real life,” Sharapova said in this video.
American Express used a bevy of technologies to create the experience, including motion capture, full-body scanning, and CGI to create a replica of Sharapova’s image. The company also used Valve’s Lighthouse tracking system that enables the HTC Vive headset and accompanying handheld controller to track a user’s movements in real-time.
Check out the video below to see how Sharapova and American Express worked together on this high-tech project:
We’ll have more coverage on the U.S. Open, including a look at how IBM plans to integrate its own technology at this year’s tournament, later on GeekWire.
