How Cutting-Edge Technologies Are Taking Home Sports to the Next Level
Part 3: How Co-location Brings Friends Together in Mixed Reality
Imagine playing your favorite sports—bowling, badminton, or even mini-golf—right in your living room. No gear, no extensive setup, just you, your friends, and a virtual court that feels just like the real thing. That’s the power of co-location, or Shared Spatial Anchors, one of the most exciting features in Home Sports. It allows players to share the same virtual and physical space, transforming any room into a shared, immersive playground.
With co-location, all the sports in Home Sports can be played in real-time, and if you’ve got enough space, you can even play them at their full scale. It’s like bringing the sports field home, where you can compete with friends as though you’re actually on the court. All you need is a headset, and you’re ready to step into a world where the boundaries between reality and virtual play disappear.
The Challenges Behind the Magic of Colocation
Of course, getting co-location up and running smoothly wasn’t without its hurdles. The concept came to life quickly on the technical side, but making it easy for players to set up took a bit more finesse. From the start, we realized that players need to look around the room to map out the virtual space. But this initial setup isn’t intuitive—it can feel forced if players don’t understand why, where, or how long they should look around. And the technical terms we relied on? They only added to the confusion.
Our solution was to infuse a playful twist. Instead of asking players to methodically map their space, we added virtual bubbles for them to find around the room. This simple game mechanic made the setup fun and seamless, encouraging exploration without feeling awkward. For an extra layer of ease, we introduced a way for one player to define the others' positions manually, providing a handy safety net. And to keep everything crystal clear, we simplified the language to “local multiplayer”, stripping away jargon so that anyone—even first-timers in mixed reality—could get started without a hitch.
A Truly Intuitive Experience
The result? An intuitive, immersive experience that lets players feel right at home in a virtual sports environment. Home Sports’ co-location is incredibly easy to set up, engaging, and accessible, even to newcomers in the world of mixed reality. Whether you're challenging friends to a game of badminton, rolling strikes in virtual bowling, or navigating a mini-golf course, colocation lets you play together with ease and excitement—wherever you are.
Ready to bring the court home? Just grab your headset, invite some friends, and let the games begin when Home Sports launches later this year.