Tonight, Wembley Stadium will be opening its doors for one of the old games in World football tonight. England vs Scotland in the Euros. It’s Euro 96 all over again. But, the historic stadium won’t just be welcoming fans though, the fans experience is also set to change and not just because of Covid tests.
EE has plans for fans to use augmented reality (AR) in the build-up to games. Put simply, AR uses your phone’s camera to project a new world on your surroundings. At Wembley, this means 5G-connected smartphones can play foosball, table football, on the nation’s most famous pitch. It definitely beats standing around in the cold waiting for your mate to come back with a pie, now you can actually play on this hallowed pitch while you wait for kick-off.
This is made possible by the 5G network, which offers high speeds and low latency allowing for a smooth connection between players. Although this game is simple enough, the possibilities of AR are endless and could revolutionise a trip to the football. Take tonight’s game for example. 2,600 of the 10,000 England fans could face off against the 2,600 Scotland supporters in a huge AR game to try and settle the score before the match begins.
Making Wembley Your Own Stadium
While the network hasn’t yet been exposed to 90,000 users at once, it should provide excellent connectivity for EE customers. Gone are the days of slow connections, with 5G fans will be able to do everything they’re used to and keep up to date with all the other scores around the grounds. At the end of the season someone is always relying on results going their ways. Be it last day survival dreams, those elusive European slots or title slip ups, sorry Stevie G. Now those all-important results will come straight through to you and you’ll be saved staring at a screen that just won’t load.
This isn’t the first time EE has set foot in the AR arena. When their 5G services first launched their users were treated to live music from Bastille and Rita Ora, showing just how incredible the possibilities can be. 5G isn’t just offering a faster network, it’s a transformative technology that will open up completely new experiences across the UK and EE is leading the way.
Leo Gebbie on Twitter: “Cracking day at @wembleystadium today trying out 5G-powered AR foosball courtesy of @EE. Great to get a view into the future of location-based entertainment using the latest in network and immersive technologies. Can’t wait to see how this is used once stadia are full again! https://t.co/VgJIuAdCME” / Twitter – Link to the original Tweet by the EE author who first wrote this.
