william-hill-bets-on-virtual-reality-racing

William Hill bets on racing

1 October 2015

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

But this promotion code thrill of the ride is something that numerous consumers who wager 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 monitoring innovations such as virtual reality to guarantee that they did not motivate excessive gambling.
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Using virtual truth headsets, integrated with GPS racetrack information, it is providing consumers the chance to see the race from the jockey's viewpoint.

"Currently you position a bet and very little takes place between that and the result," stated Crispin Nieboer, William Hill's director of innovation.
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"We want to bring consumers closer to the sporting action, to experience the excitement of the trip."

To test the possibilities, the group at William Hill laboratories constructed a 3D mock-up of Kempton Park racecourse and gathered live data, by means of GPS trackers fitted on horses, during a training race at the course.

Combining the information produced a virtual race users can view through either Google Cardboard or an Oculus Rift.

The innovation is not yet available to the yohaig code public but was on program at an open day at the firm's innovation laboratory in Shoreditch.
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Users first select the horse they desire to race on. Accompanied by live commentary, wearers can turn and look at other horses in addition to activating a data 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 spaces in the information so the horses suddenly accelerate in a live race, however we hope to have a proof-of-concept system all set by Christmas," said Mr Nieboer.

The strategy is to introduce the service as part of the William Hill app.

"Users can choose the choice to enjoy 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 most likely to be offered totally free at racecourses.
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It is approximated that in the UK about 350,000 individuals have a betting addiction, with over ₤ 7bn invested every year.

The expansion of online betting has actually been blamed for making it simpler to gamble and some feel services such as virtual truth could contribute to the issue.

The marketplace is managed by the UK Gambling Commission, which stated that it "displays development in the gaming market in order to guarantee operators continue to adhere to the conditions of their licences".

"Operators are needed to make sure that they provide betting in an accountable way, which will consist of offering tools to allow clients to handle their betting activity along with having policies and procedures in place to identify potentially problematic behaviour and communicate with customers who exhibit that behaviour," a representative added.

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