Project: Rogers Cup Experience Client: Cisco Systems and Research in Motion Submitted by:X2O Media
Presented by National Bank, 2011 was the first time in 131 years when both the men’s and women’s Rogers Cup tennis tournaments, also known as the Canadian Open, were taking place in the same week. Designed to take the experience to a whole new level for fans, the X2O Rogers Cup Experience tablet app for the BlackBerry PlayBook was available to select VIP guests in the Cisco Systems hospitality suites at the Toronto (women’s) and Montreal (men’s) tournaments.
The ultimate companion for tennis fans, the interactive tablet app was created to enhance the event viewing experience with a number of informative and dynamic features that allowed users to watch live videos of Cup matches and game highlights from both sites. In addition, users could access all match scores, view player profiles, follow and send tweets on the action, and even view live weather feeds with radar maps, all at their fingertips. Fans also were able to interact with a large-screen version of the app on digital touchscreens displaying the same content available on the tablets. The first thing guests saw as they walked into the suites was the large touchscreen. They would stop and interact with it, then take their PlayBook to their seat and pick up where they left off as they watched the match.
Objectives of the deployment or the technology:
The purpose of the X2O Rogers Cup Experience app was to showcase X2O Media, Research in Motion, and Cisco technology working in tandem, with the goal of demonstrating an innovative use of the latest real-time technologies to provide an enhanced experience during the live Rogers Cup events. The app also solved one problem with having both men’s and women’s tournaments happening at the same time in different locations: tennis fans could only follow the action at one site.
The X2O app solved this issue by allowing users to view live videos of Cup matches and game highlights from both sites, all from the convenience of their own tablet. So if a user was in Montreal, he or she could easily keep tabs on the action in Toronto in real time. Going even further, X2O created a visually exciting, informative, and interactive tournament experience for Cisco Systems’ VIP guests by offering access to live match scores, player profiles, and tournament tweets. For guests who did not have access to the tablets, the same information was presented in the VIP hospitality suite on an interactive display screen.
Results achieved relative to the objectives:
The X2O Rogers Cup Experience app wowed the VIP guests at the hospitality suites, providing a very popular and powerful demonstration of the capabilities of both the new Blackberry PlayBook tablet and X2O technologies. Guests truly enjoyed having access to the interactive screen as well as having the tablets while watching the matches. They were impressed with the built-in social media functionality that allowed them to tweet during the matches, in addition to having real-time information at their fingertips. Because these were handed out to VIP guests at the Cisco hospitality suites, only anecdotal feedback is available.
Size and geographic location(s) of the deployment:
The X2O Rogers Cup Experience tablet app was available to Cisco System’s VIP guests from the semifinals on Aug. 12 through the finals on Aug. 14 in both Montreal and Toronto. However, the app stayed with the BlackBerry PlayBooks that were given out at the tournaments, and still has a connection to X2O’s servers. X2O continually provides updates for the app and uses it as a marketing vehicle for the company’s latest news.
Maria Porco accepts the award on behalf of X2O Media from Greg Weaver, DSA EVP for Mobile.
Selected judges’ comments:
Undoubtedly this was a very interesting mobile application that, due to the capability of the Blackberry Playbook, also easily supported "larger display" or kiosk-like output.
Great idea for staying connected to events all happening simultaneously. The sign of a good idea is when someone can see it having applications elsewhere. I could see this being useful at a host of other events.
Excellent write up; excellent YouTube presentation. Very effective integration of social media and technology to capture customer attention.
Creative user interface with the cube interaction! This is a great solution for the entertainment / sporting event industry among others.
Wow…four weeks to deploy and support for other on-location signage beyond the tablet. Excellent!
The app is very visually appealing. I can see that X2O worked hard to make this functional for fans.
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