Courtesy of CBC.ca:

User-controlled camera debuts on Hockey Night

"Online viewers will have personal control over a near-ice-level perspective as the Hockey Night in Canada All Access Cam makes its debut in Friday's telecast of the Montreal Canadiens' centennial anniversary game against the Boston Bruins.

The new camera will give viewers logging on to CBCSports.ca total freedom to choose where they focus their attention during the pre-game festivities and after the puck drops at the Bell Centre.

"It's a cool innovation. We're always trying to bring the event to the viewer," said Hockey Night in Canada executive producer Sherali Najak.

Developed by Immersive Media in Calgary and sponsored by Chevrolet, the circular camera, smaller than a soccer ball, has 11 lenses working simultaneously. The different views are pieced together by computer software, giving online users a real-time 360-degree view of the action.

"You can watch the play at your discretion," Najak said. "It's just something that is so user-generated, and the innovation behind it is really neat. [Fans] can use it on their own terms."

...This is a GREAT idea. A 360 degree view of the ice and you can pick any angle? Damn! Looks like the track-ball has just been resurrected from the dead.

You couple this with 1080p and Dolby Surround? Hoooobaby...a Hockey fan's wet dream. Only on CBC, though...

Lucky Canadians have all the fun...

I will be amazed if this runs without a glitch.

Really cool stuff though.

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Wheelhouse

I'm really pumped for this. I can see this going horridly though....

It debuts tonight, in Montreal!!! And they're going to have it for Winter Classic and select games.

I can't see any problem that could arise. Unless it's bandwidth-related. The entire set of images is digitally "stitched" together into an aggregate shot, and each fan gets to view whichever section of the overall image they want.

Pretty simple, actually. Quality of definition depends on (cam resolution,) transmission bandwidth, reception bandwidth and buffer settings.

Anyone on SabresJunkie gets CBCSports.ca and can watch...Let us know how cool this is.

Bummed its only in Canada...
Any Canadian Sabresjunkies checking it out?

Since there's software and processing involved I wonder what the delay is, and if or how they compensate for audio sync.

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Hold my beer and watch this...

If it runs smoothly, it'll be implemented throughout the league most likely.

Wouldn't be surprised if it gets plenty of exposure.

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i remember hearing about this during the playoffs last year. they showed a sample of it during an intermission. it looked great.

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