William Hill bets on virtual reality racing

1 October 2015

Anyone who has actually been to a racecourse will understand the excitement when the horses pound towards the goal.

But this promotion code adventure of the ride is something that lots of customers who bet in shops or online do not experience.

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 developments such as virtual reality to guarantee that they did not encourage excessive gambling.

Using virtual reality headsets, combined with GPS racetrack information, it is giving clients the chance to see the race from the yohaig code jockey's point of view.
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"Currently you put a bet and not much happens between that and the result," stated Crispin Nieboer, William Hill's director of development.
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"We wish to bring consumers closer to the sporting action, to experience the adventure of the ride."
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To test the possibilities, the group at William Hill labs developed a 3D mock-up of Kempton Park racecourse and gathered live information, through GPS trackers fitted on horses, during a training race at the course.

Combining the data produced a virtual race users can view by means of either Google Cardboard or an Oculus Rift.

The innovation is not yet available to the public however was on at an open day at the firm's innovation laboratory in Shoreditch.

Users initially choose the horse they desire to race on. Accompanied by live commentary, users can turn and look at other horses as well as activating a data screen about the yohaig code horse's heart rate, stride and race position.
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William Hill plans to include more courses and live races next year.

"Currently there are some gaps in the data so the horses unexpectedly speed up in a live race, however we want to have a proof-of-concept system ready by Christmas," said Mr Nieboer.

The strategy is to release the service as part of the William Hill app.
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"Users can choose the alternative to see the race as a basic video or they can be the yohaig code jockey," Mr Nieboer stated.

It might likewise be offered in some betting shops, said Mr Nieboer, while Google Cardboard headsets were most likely to be provided free at racecourses.
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It is estimated that in the UK about 350,000 people have a gambling dependency, with over ₤ 7bn invested each year.
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The proliferation of online wagering has actually been blamed for making it much easier to gamble and some feel services such as virtual reality could include to the problem.

The marketplace is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, which stated that it "monitors development in the gaming market in order to guarantee operators continue to abide by the conditions of their licences".
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"Operators are required to guarantee that they provide gambling in an accountable manner, which will consist of offering tools to allow consumers to handle their gambling activity as well as having policies and procedures in place to recognize possibly bothersome behaviour and connect with consumers who exhibit that behaviour," a spokesperson included.

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