Football game attendees in Oregon may have caught a glimpse of the future of halftime shows and marching band performances with a mixed-reality spectacle for the ages.
Featuring no less than Microsoft’s popular Halo video game series mascot, Master Chief, the Oregon Ducks halftime show this past Saturday at Autzen Stadium in Eugene was ostensibly aimed at promoting the company’s latest video game, Halo Infinite, though it may have actually given us all a preview of the future. Mixed reality, for those who are not familiar with the term, combines real-life visuals with simulated, realistic images that are overlaid on top of everyday life for dynamic effects. You may be familiar with one of this genre’s more popular incarnations in the popular space in the form of the Pokemon GO app that continues to be a blockbuster though it isn’t anywhere near where it was as a trend years ago.
Basically, mixed reality works through a combination of live performance or using the “real world” as a backdrop for effects and animations that are otherwise generated by technology and made viewable by a smartphone, smart glasses, VR headset, or any combination of these tools. While still in its nascent stages, the technology is increasingly being used in live performances and it’s not hard to see why:
From simulating amazing light shows to generating full 3D immersive experiences, there’s never been a technology quite like mixed reality to draw the audience into the show. Beyond that, mixed reality promises to be much cheaper to implement than many current real-world methods for bringing the same kind of effect to the field so it should be interesting to see how it is embraced and what forms this takes.
For the University of Oregon game, Microsoft developed a mixed reality experience that made it appear as if a spaceship from Halo was landing in the middle of the field. The ship dropped a payload that then showed the Halo Infinite logo followed by one from the University of Oregon itself.
All in all, the spectacle was quite realistic looking and, combined with sound effects, really gets the mind racing as to what marching bands will be able to do with this kind of thing in the future. Given the ubiquity of smart devices, and the anticipation that this will only continue to grow in market share in the coming years, marching band performances combining mixed reality overlays and effects are not only going to become common, but they’re also likely to be the new standard.
NFL teams like the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens have also experimented with mixed reality during halftime shows while the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights created a show displayed on the rink’s ice depicting a virtual kraken, among other things.
Another feather in mixed reality’s cap is that it should be relatively easy to deploy as smart devices are common among sporting fans. The combination of light, sound, and marching band showmanship could result in wildly different shows for American marching bands in the future and truly mark a new era in the amalgamation of technology and performance art.
