Report on the NTT R&D Forum 2020
Special Session 1
In Special Session 1, Shingo Kinoshita, Executive Research Engineer at NTT Corporation Service Evolution Laboratories, welcomed guests Yuki Ota, President of the Japan Fencing Federation & Vice-President of the International Fencing Federation and Haruyuki Moroishi, CEO/CCO of IMAGICA EEX Inc. and General Producer of the IMAGICA Group to discuss the theme "Sports & Live Entertainment Viewing Re-Imagined in the Post-corona Era," including current conditions and the situation moving forward for sports and live entertainment in the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an announcement made by Pia Research Institute in May, the number of events canceled or postponed from February to the end of 2020 is estimated to be around 432,000, which represents a loss of 77% of the market, worth some 690 billion yen.
Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, we are being forced to change the way we hold sports events and live entertainment - fantastic cultural experiences where lots of fans normally gather in a single venue creating a sense of togetherness with their loud cheers.
During this session, three speakers discussed the challenges and future vision for sports and live entertainment in the post-COVID era, as well as the role that NTT should play in this opportunity.
The session began with Shingo Kinoshita from NTT introducing what is currently happening in the sports and live entertainment sectors.
Live entertainment events continue to be canceled or postponed, and even if they are held, they are under strict conditions without an audience, or with the number of audience members reduced and no cheering or high-fiving allowed. This session introduced case studies of online live events in Japan and abroad that used creativity and technology to achieve success despite these restrictions.
Sports sector has been introducing different initiatives such as trying to liven up venues by installing "virtual fans" created using CG and videoconferencing systems, or using simulators to virtualize the event itself in the case of some cycling competitions.
"Kirari!" a technology that was already being developed by NTT prior to COVID-19, was also introduced at the session. "Kirari!" delivers the whole competition space to remote venues and can transmit ultra-realistic data to make fans really feel like they are present. We demonstrated how communications technology with ultra-low latency is used to synchronize the actual sports venue and remote venues, as well as how distributed URV (Ultra Reality Viewing) creates a sense of togetherness.
Guest speaker Yuki Ota from the Japan Fencing Federation and International Fencing Federation explained the federations' initiatives dating from back before COVID-19 to the present day. He reported on the tournament reforms he has been working on since 2017 based on the Federation's new slogan "Strike at the Heart."
Mr. Ota talked about how they had managed to increase the number of spectators and the unit price of tickets by creating posters showing the esthetic appeal of the fencers and by moving venues from traditional gymnasiums to theaters.
He also related his experience of watching the final tournament remotely, thanks to NTT's cooperation. "Heart Experience" provides a mechanism for families watching off-site to feel the heartbeat of players during a contest. Data from heart rate monitors worn by competitors is sent to a ball-shaped device that family members hold, allowing them to experience the competitor's heartbeat in the form of vibrations and lights. There is also the "Remote High Five" - a solution that allows players at a match venue to high five with family members supporting them off-site. This measures vibrations from the players who touch a transparent board installed in each venue and sends the vibrations together with the video to the remote location. These new mechanisms allow for two-way communication, helping to convey the emotion and joy of sports events, even if the game is being watched from a remote location.
The other guest speaker, Harayuki Moroishi, CEO and CCO of IMAGICA EEX and General Producer of IMAGICA Group, explained how his company's business model has been transformed by COVID-19. He explained how the live entertainment sector has evolved under the principle of "live is best," but that now things need to be reformed to avoid close contact and maintain social distancing. He also proposed that the "venue revenue" model used up to now, whereby ticket revenue is earned by holding events in the physical space of venues such as theaters, needs to be changed to a business model that takes advantage of transmitted events and live video links, where "revenue comes from the value of the experience."
Mr. Moroishi also presented the latest initiative he was responsible for planning and producing: "Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi Online Live ALLE JAPAN." This was a live event that lasted two and a half hours with sixteen songs that were all broadcast live to an audience of more than 100,000 people. He created a 360-degrees environment using video equipment with 300-inch LEDs positioned on three sides to produce an immersive, all-round performance. In addition, there were 300 remote participants who sang together to create a sense of togetherness and an expression of being in the moment. A discussion followed on how, at live venues, physical constraints have ended up creating spatial distance between the artist and fans, but how productions and expressive events held via new forms of communication that utilize video and broadcasts can reduce the distance between one mind and another to zero thanks to technology. Mr. Moroishi spoke of how, through this live event, he had discovered new possibilities for live entertainment that fuses the real and the virtual.
When reaffirming how effective online live events were, Mr. Kinoshita asked about the future of sports and live entertainment. Mr. Ota responded by predicting that we will probably end up with a hybrid model but he expressed a fear that, with the advance of globalization, the market will be dominated by a few major players. On the other hand, Mr. Moroishi said that he looked forward to expanding the world of entertainment, with new business being generated by the fusion of technology and creativity as 5G, AI and other technologies continue to spread.
The discussion about the future of sports was spirited and the session as a whole was very valuable, with the three speakers looking as though they could have talked on and on.