IPL 2022: Disney Star deploys tech innovations including Dol Atmos, metaverse show

Tata IPL 2022 will be broadcasted with Dol Atmos audio support, according to Disney Star, the official broadcaster for the event. Other new technological features announced the company include a metaverse cricket show, a new online voting system, mixed reality analysis and a new ‘Behind the Scenes’ (BTS) tech venture among others. 
Cricket viewers in the country will now be able to watch the IPL in Dol Atmos on Star Sports1 HD and Star Sports1 Hindi HD.
Dol Atmos is a surround sound technology developed Dol that expanded on extant surround sound technologies adding height channels that allow users to interpret sound in three dimensions. 
The return of fans to stadiums combined with Dol Atmos audio could bring the experience of watching a match at home closer to the feeling of spectating the match in the stadium. 
“With fans being allowed in the stadium, we wanted viewers to get as close to the real feel of the atmosphere at the venues and this is why we decided to produce the Tata IPL 2022 in Dol Atmos for the first time. The Star Lab has also enhanced the presentation of the tournament deploying AR & VR across match coverage and programming initiatives,” said Sanjog Gupta, head of sports at  Disney Star.
According to Gupta, Disney Star is also working on building a cricket show in the metaverse.

Disney Star is also introducing an online voting and polling platform for fans through Megaphone during this year’s IPL.
The new experience will “allow viewers to shape the editorial discourse during shows and build a connection between the opinions of Star Sports’ experts and audiences,” according to the company. 
Star Sports presenters will also be bringing mixed reality analysis to this year’s IPL with the data-driven ‘Hawkeye’graphics using a mixed reality headset, using technology developed Star Lab, Disney Star’s R&D arm.
Further, Disney Star’s new BTS venture is experimenting with a dributed production model using cloud production that is aimed at eventually eliminating hardware and geographical location dependencies for live sports productions. 
Other technological innovations in the broadcast of this year’s IPL announced the company includes ball–ball fielding analysis based on on-ground player tracking, virtual multi-screen illustration, and a new virtual studio environment that can supposedly create the illusion that graphics are real three-dimensional physical objects.