William Hill Bets On Virtual Reality Racing

William Hill bets on virtual truth racing

1 October 2015

Anyone who has been to a racecourse will understand the enjoyment when the horses pound towards the surface line.

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But this promotion code thrill of the trip is something that many clients who wager in shops or online do not experience.

Bookmaker William Hill is eager to recreate it with virtual reality innovation.

The UK's Gambling Commission said that it would be keeping track of innovations such as virtual truth to make sure that they did not motivate excessive gambling.

Using virtual reality headsets, combined with GPS racetrack information, it is giving clients the opportunity to view the race from the jockey's viewpoint.

"Currently you put a bet and very little happens in between that and the outcome," stated Crispin Nieboer, William Hill's director of development.

"We desire to bring clients closer to the sporting action, to experience the thrill of the ride."

To evaluate the possibilities, the group at William Hill laboratories built a 3D mock-up of Kempton Park racecourse and gathered live information, through GPS trackers fitted on horses, during a training race at the course.

Combining the information produced a virtual race users can see through either Google Cardboard or an Oculus Rift.

the yohaig code innovation is not yet offered to the public but was on show at an open day at the yohaig code company's innovation laboratory in Shoreditch.

Users first pick the horse they wish to race on. Accompanied by live commentary, users can turn and look at other horses along with triggering a data display about the horse's heart rate, stride and race position.

William Hill plans to add more courses and live races next year.

"Currently there are some spaces in the data so the horses suddenly accelerate in a live race, but we intend to have a proof-of-concept system prepared by Christmas," stated Mr Nieboer.

The strategy is to release the service as part of the William Hill app.

"Users can choose the option to see the race as a basic video or they can be the jockey," Mr Nieboer stated.

It could also be readily available in some wagering stores, stated Mr Nieboer, while Google Cardboard headsets were likely to be provided out complimentary at racecourses.

It is approximated that in the UK about 350,000 individuals have a gaming addiction, with over ₤ 7bn invested annually.

The expansion of online wagering has been blamed for making it easier to gamble and some feel services such as virtual reality might contribute to the problem.

The marketplace is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, which stated that it "displays development in the gaming market in order to make sure operators continue to comply with the conditions of their licences".

"Operators are required to ensure that they provide gambling in a responsible manner, which will include offering tools to allow clients to manage their betting activity along with having policies and treatments in location to identify possibly troublesome behaviour and communicate with customers who display that behaviour," a representative added.

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