Last night, I sat down with my Vision Pro and caught the first part of the Yankees–Red Sox game live in Immersive Video. I wouldn’t call myself a baseball fan these days, but I have fond memories of many summer evenings at Tiger Stadium and Wrigley Field, and I was keen to see how Apple’s immersive broadcast compared.
Having sampled Apple’s other Immersive Video content, but very little of its sports coverage, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sitting down to watch, I was surprised by how much it felt like I was at Yankee Stadium. Before the first pitch was thrown, the broadcast focused on the Yankees’ starting pitcher as he warmed up. Periodically, the camera angle switched, giving viewers other angles on the pre-game preparations, while the announcers chatted about each team’s season leading up to the game.
Once the game started, the camera switched to positions near each team’s batting circle depending on which team was at bat, occasionally switching to shots behind home plate and in right-center field. During each at bat, a virtual scoreboard showed a 2D feed of the game like you’d see on a regular broadcast bounded by statistics. The additional angle and information were useful for fans, but as someone who was there primarily for the experience, it took away from the immersiveness a little to see a fake scoreboard floating in the sky over the stadium’s right field wall.
That said, the immersiveness was impressive. I found myself looking all around the stadium taking in the sights and spatial audio sounds. The detail was incredible. Fully surrounded by the stadium, I watched as a family walked by with popcorn and drinks and could even read the Poland Spring label on a water bottle in the bullpen.
Then, as I watched the Yankees at bat, I could see someone off camera spitting sunflower seeds in the dirt along the dugout. That sort of minute detail added to the immersiveness of the experience every bit as much as being surrounded by the video feed and soundscape, to the point that when a player entered my view from off camera, I instinctively tucked my legs under me to avoid him tripping over me.
At times, though, I also felt a little too close to the action. It was like I had slipped into a restricted area, an invisible participant, spying on unsuspecting people on the field, waiting for security to discover me and kick me out of the stadium. That feeling was probably driven by the combination of knowing that the broadcast was live and not having watched a lot of Apple immersive sports content, but it was still a little unsettling at first.
As for the game, I didn’t pay very close attention. I don’t follow either team, but it was still fun to watch the game unfold from up close. The dugout camera angles made it slightly harder to see the pitches as they were thrown than it would be from a more traditional outfield camera viewpoint, but it really didn’t take away from the experience.
Ultimately, I only lasted about a half hour. The experience was excellent, but baseball’s pace is just too slow for my taste, so ultimately, I packed up my Vision Pro and caught up on Silo instead.
If you missed the game, it’s available to replay in full along with highlights in the TV app on Vision Pro.
