The Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, beginning in Auckland tomorrow, has already marked a number of firsts for sailing, and that trend is continuing when it comes to the broadcast of the event.
Dunedin-based company Animation Research has undertaken a daring project that will see the two-week regatta broadcast entirely in a virtual format. It is believed to be a world first for a live sports broadcast.
Ian Taylor, who heads Animation Research, said the compressed timeframe in which the Louis Vuitton series was put together, and the expense of a traditional live broadcast, meant full television coverage was beyond TVNZ's reach.
"Because of costs it wasn't possible to have traditional live coverage like everyone was used to, TVNZ were only going to have a half an hour highlights package every night. So we just thought how else could we do it?" he said.
Mr Taylor's company, which was responsible for developing the "virtual spectator" software used in previous America's Cup regattas, were already going to be providing live tracking of the boats for the event.
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