William Hill bets on virtual reality racing

1 October 2015

Anyone who has actually been to a racecourse will know the enjoyment when the horses pound towards the goal.
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But this promotion code adventure of the trip is something that many customers who bet in shops or online do not experience.
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Bookmaker William Hill is eager to recreate it with virtual truth technology.

The UK's Gambling Commission said that it would be keeping an eye on innovations such as virtual reality to ensure that they did not motivate extreme gambling.

Using virtual truth headsets, combined with GPS racetrack information, it is providing customers the possibility to see the race from the jockey's viewpoint.

"Currently you position a bet and not much takes place between that and the result," stated Crispin Nieboer, William Hill's director of innovation.

"We want to bring customers closer to the sporting action, to experience the thrill of the trip."
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To evaluate the possibilities, the group at William Hill laboratories constructed a 3D mock-up of Kempton Park racecourse and collected live data, through GPS trackers fitted on horses, throughout a training race at the course.
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Combining the information produced a virtual race users can view through either Google Cardboard or an Oculus Rift.
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The innovation is not yet available to the general public but was on show at an open day at the firm's technology lab in .

Users first select the yohaig code horse they want to race on. Accompanied by live commentary, wearers can turn and look at other horses along with activating a data screen about the horse's heart rate, stride and race position.

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

"Currently there are some spaces in the data so the horses all of a sudden accelerate in a live race, but we wish to have a proof-of-concept system ready by Christmas," stated Mr Nieboer.

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

"Users can select the option to watch the race as a standard video or they can be the jockey," Mr Nieboer said.

It might also be available in some betting stores, stated Mr Nieboer, while Google Cardboard headsets were likely to be provided totally free at racecourses.
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It is estimated that in the UK about 350,000 individuals have a gaming addiction, with over ₤ 7bn spent annually.

The expansion of online wagering has actually been blamed for making it easier to gamble and some feel services such as virtual reality could contribute to the issue.
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The market is controlled by the UK Gambling Commission, which said that it "screens development in the gaming market in order to make sure operators continue to adhere to the conditions of their licences".

"Operators are required to make sure that they use gambling in an accountable way, which will include offering tools to enable clients to manage their gambling activity along with having policies and procedures in place to identify potentially problematic behaviour and interact with consumers who show that behaviour," a representative added.

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