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This is how Microsoft wants you to watch football in the future

It's just a mockup, but this exciting video shows how Microsoft's HoloLens headset could change the way you watch sports.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
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Sean Hollister
2 min read

Super Bowl 50 is right around the corner, and your gorgeous HDTV is ready and waiting (If not, check out our guide). But what if the big game could extend beyond your big screen? With a Microsoft HoloLens headset, which allows you to see computer-generated objects as if they appeared in the real world, you could theoretically watch every play unfold on your coffee table like a video game brought to life -- or extend your view of the stadium to the entire wall.

At least, that's the idea in this new video, produced by Microsoft in partnership with the NFL. It's what these two organizations believe might be possible...at some point in the future...if the HoloLens catches on.

Just to be crystal-clear, this isn't an actual HoloLens experience that you could try on an actual HoloLens headset. This demo is just a mockup, and doesn't actually exist. But the headset does, and it's remarkable to think: most of what we see in the video is probably possible with today's technology.

We've already seen a game of Minecraft played on a coffee table, thanks to the HoloLens headset's ability to scan for real-world objects and place computer generated ones on top. We've seen killer robots bust through walls, if not football players quite yet. All that remains is for the NFL and Microsoft to agree to actually produce such an experience for football fans, figure out how to collect and transmit that data...and for the HoloLens headset to cost substantially less than $3,000 each (roughly converting to £2,080 in the UK or AU$4,265 in Australia). Sorry, video-kid-with-the-Niners-flag, you're not getting one this Christmas.