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Microsoft and the PGA Tour have had a rather comfortable relationship as of late, with the two collaborating on several offerings for fans of golf and Windows-powered hardware and services. Despite the fact that the Microsoft Band series has yet to incorporate Windows 10, it has been a relatively great test bed for what pairing Microsoft technologies with PGA tour data can achieve.
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On a similar note, the PGA Tour is looking to leverage another Microsoft technology to help advance tracking, data collection, and shot mapping visuals for golf with the inclusion of HoloLens development.
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During Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2016, Microsoft and the PGA Tour took center stage to demonstrate the added benefit of using augmented reality in conjunction with golfing data. With the use of HoloLens, golfers, caddies, announcers and sportscasters will have a 3D visual of each course at their disposal. On top of the 3D-rich mapping visuals, the PGA Tour’s use of Microsoft’s cloud services and Bing maps will also enable augmented stats to be overlaid in various viewing options.
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In just eight weeks, a small team within the PGA Tour development camp was able to create a holographic experience that included voice commanded directional controls, gesture manipulation of maps, integrated Shot Link data with heat mapping technologies and shot arch’s of each player on the course.
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The overlaid data is collective augmentation over the course of all eighteen holes among all players during the round enabling quick side by side comparisons of each contestant, presumably available for announcers, sportscasters, and fans to enjoy.
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The PGA Tour and Microsoft have once again showcased what a little bit of ingenuity and heap of cloud data collection can produce. Granted, the computing processing of the HoloLens plays a big part in the visual representation of the data, but as Microsoft continues to blend its platforms and cloud services closer together, this visually-rich data should be able to stream across all devices such as phones, Xbox consoles, and PCs soon.
\n\nFurther reading: 3D, Augmented Reality, Golf, HoloLens, Microsoft, Mixed reality, PGA Tour, Sports, Windows 10, Xbox