Magic Leap teams up with the NBA to deliver AR basketball

Shaquille ONeal Magic Leap NBASecretive augmented reality startup Magic Leap has entered into its first sports partnership with the NBA and broadcaster Turner to bring digital basketball coverage to Magic Leap’s highly-anticipated, upcoming headset due for release some time this year.

The partnership will enable users to view NBA content through their Magic Leap One headsets and combine it with stats, replays and commentary through a different overlay – without missing any action – via the AR startup’s Screens platform. The experience will be accessed through the NBA app which is currently in development for the headset.

At launch, the experience will only include archived NBA games and a selection of highlights, as opposed to live games.

“With Magic Leap, fans will be able to watch NBA games with groundbreaking features that overlay data into their sport-viewing experience, with screens placed all around their environment,” said Jeff Ruediger, managing director for Magic Leap Screens, in a blog post. “We’ve even used volumetric capture to bring a life-size Shaquille O’Neal presence right into your living room. At launch we will have a curated list of archived NBA games featuring the most exhilarating matchups from recent seasons, as well as a selection of highlight clips of your favorite teams and players. We are working towards bringing the live NBA game experience to Magic Leap One.”

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