We are not ready for the Lega Calcio virtual reality yet

Just the day after EA Sports confirmed that it had discontinued its collaboration with FIFA for the world's most popular football video game, the Lega Calcio on the occasion of the Italian Cup Final decided to launch its own original version of virtual reality by recreating the leading goal signed by Nicolò Barella. A surprise that did not get the desired result, given the reactions it generated on social media, where there was no shortage of references to the SuperMoviola of Processo di Biscardi and to Actua Soccer for the graphics that were not quite in step with the times. A curious operation and one that no one really understood the reason for, given that after being used for the first marking of the challenge it was no longer unleashed for the next five goals that decided the final. Perhaps such sophisticated technology can only be used once in the ninety minutes of play.

With Inter leading from the seventh minute of play, towards the middle of the first half during a stoppage time this very strange replay appeared of a pixelated version of Barella's shot as he centralized starting from the left vertex of the penalty area before kicking a ball with his right that passed between several digital Juventus defenders and mocked Perin. Nothing we couldn't have enjoyed with a nice 4K replay but, as they say in these cases, it's the devil is in the details. At the start the empty Olympic Stadium, without even those virtual fans that were added to the broadcasts during the first lockdown, then the EA Sports billboards that make us understand how somehow the company is involved in this virtual realization. But most of all, Perin's gestures after collecting the goal, immediately lashing out at his defense guilty of obstructing his view of the shot taken by the Nerazzurri midfielder. Is this perhaps virtual reality?

Lega Calcio a few days ago had announced that a trial of "Virtual Recreation" technology would be carried out during the match (with technology partner Hawk Eye), which would allow the end user to review replays of match actions in augmented reality (as in a video game), including evolved statistical and tracking data combined with video. But the realization let's say was not what was expected from a technology in 2022, where the aspect of virtual between metaverse and Web3 is now more real than real, instead of getting stuck inside a coin-operated arcade. This is unfortunately a situation that is repeated whenever innovations are attempted in football without really understanding what they really consist of and more out of a spirit of emulation. While 4K cameras and drone footage are experimented with during the game, in other aspects the Lega Calcio seems to sink into the usual approximation and randomness that characterizes their more futuristic initiatives.