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William Hill Bets On Virtual Reality Racing

William Hill bets on virtual reality racing

1 October 2015

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

But this promotion code adventure of the trip is something that numerous customers 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 stated that it would be monitoring innovations such as virtual truth to ensure that they did not encourage extreme gambling.

Using virtual truth headsets, integrated with GPS racetrack information, it is giving customers the chance to see the race from the jockey’s point of view.

“Currently you put a bet and not much happens between that and the result,” said Crispin Nieboer, William Hill’s director of innovation.

“We wish to bring consumers closer to the sporting action, to experience the thrill of the ride.”

To check the possibilities, the team at William Hill laboratories constructed a 3D mock-up of Kempton Park racecourse and gathered live data, through GPS trackers fitted on horses, throughout a training race at the course.

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

The technology is not yet available to the general public however was on show at an open day at the company’s innovation lab in Shoreditch.

Users first select the horse they desire to race on. Accompanied by live commentary, wearers can turn and take a look at other horses along with triggering an information screen about the horse’s heart rate, stride and race position.

William Hill prepares to include more courses and live races next year.

“Currently there are some gaps in the information so the horses unexpectedly accelerate in a live race, however we intend to have a proof-of-concept system prepared by Christmas,” said Mr Nieboer.

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

“Users can choose the alternative to view the race as a basic video or they can be the jockey,” Mr Nieboer said.

It could likewise be offered in some wagering shops, said Mr Nieboer, while Google Cardboard headsets were most likely to be provided complimentary at racecourses.

It is estimated that in the UK about 350,000 people have a betting dependency, with over ₤ 7bn spent 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 issue.

The marketplace is controlled by the UK Gambling Commission, which stated that it “monitors development in the gambling market in order to make sure operators continue to abide by the conditions of their licences”.

“Operators are required to guarantee that they offer gambling in a responsible way, which will include offering tools to allow clients to manage their gaming activity in addition to having policies and treatments in location to identify possibly troublesome behaviour and connect with customers who display that behaviour,” a representative included.

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