Can New VR/AR Technology Help With Darts Performance?

Virtual and augmented reality have been huge hits in the developing space of high-tech entertainment. Touted as up-and-coming for years, these systems are finally beginning to realise their long-promised potential and have demonstrated a transformative impact on sports engagement. As darts fans, it’s natural to wonder if this tech might be leveraged in some way in our game, and the forms that these changes could take.

 

Changing the Passive Experience

The most profound effects that VR and AR are likely to have on darts come from their additions to how we watch the game. With virtual reality, specialised recording setups could be used to let us watch in a fake immersive environment, as if we were occupying the best seats in the house. This approach has already been tried in other sports like basketball, and it’s just a matter of time before this form of application becomes more widespread.

Virtualised experiences can also help increase the visibility of darts with players who otherwise might not be familiar. Businesses like Flight Club see success in blending real play with different play options besides 501, for different takes on the game. Combined with software-driven shot replays, this reach beyond the traditional has proven great at opening the door to players returning to more mainstream and serious darts versions.

Augmented reality could take a different approach, letting us virtually insert portions of a live game directly into our homes. With the right recording hardware and AR glasses, it could be possible to superimpose a dartboard against a wall in our house. This could allow the players to step up and throw in a new and engaging way to witness, not possible with traditional tech. Such an approach might seem like sci-fi, but again, it already has precedent years ago in other sports.

In this way, the changes that AR and VR have to viewership are more of an alternative than a replacement. To illustrate, similar developments in different media have been seen in the online casino slots slot machines space. Once confined to computers, titles like Lil’ Greedy and Hammer Storm can now be played over tablets, smartphones, and VR/AR platforms. There is no one superior form of access here; it’s more about catering to the desires of different portions of the audience, as in darts, to improve the overall potential of the whole experience.

 

Barriers to Active Play

Virtual and augmented reality gameplay seems like it could be well-suited to darts, thanks to requiring few moving parts, but it might not be so simple. While it is entirely possible to create high-quality AR and VR darts experiences, this is a case of overcomplicating the gameplay for no real advantage.

Darts already requires little space, where setting up a dart board and playing the real game is easier than almost any other sport. Playing virtually doesn’t add much here, and given the near impossibility of accurately modelling throwing and grip mechanics, it wouldn’t feel like the real thing.

 

Virtual and augmented reality are still on the upswing, expected to grow increasingly popular as the tech improves and prices for entry-level models decrease. In doing so, they’ll likely be normalised as viewing methods, either of which could bring impressive steps forward for the right viewers. Just don’t expect them to be useful for practice, as that might be left firmly in the realm of real physical play.