How Facebook Is Connecting Fans to Paralympics

After the Olympic Games, The 2020 Summer Paralympic Games are all set to be held in Tokyo from 24th August 2021 – 5th September 2021. Unfortunately this time too the fans won’t be able to witness the games in person owing to safety and precautionary measures. Fortunately, Facebook has been working with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to take an initiative of bringing people together to enjoy the Paralympics. Here’s how:

PRODUCT

Facebook will have a hub of information including highlights from official Paralympic broadcast partners, team and athlete overviews, a Paralympic Games quiz, posts from friends and more. Fans across the globe can visit the hub by clicking on the hashtag #Paralympics.

Fans will have access to an AR effect, via the @Paralympics Instagram account, the AR effect will let the fans attempt to mirror the movements of Someity, the official Paralympics mascot, and even earn AR medals for their performances.

Facebook says, “@Wethe15 Instagram account will also feature an AR effect to help fans promote the “We the 15” movement”, which aims to end discrimination against people with disabilities, who make up 15% of the global population.“ 

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Fans will be able to enjoy a wide range of Paralympic-related content. Thanks to Facebook’s family of technologies. On their official Newsroom website, Facebook stated the following:

– We’ve teamed up with the IPC to build “Paralympics Raw: Emotion Unites Us,” an immersive WebXR visual and spatial audio experience that recreates phenomenal moments by Para athletes. The experience features the voices of athletes — including Birgit Skarstein, Katie Kelly, Chan Ho Yuen, Lex Gillette and Abbas Karimi — who share their stories of competing in Para Sport and at the Paralympic Games. With animated visuals and spatial sound, people feel like they’re in the moment with the athlete. Fans can access the experience by visiting https://raw-emotions.paralympic.org via their desktop, mobile or Oculus browsers beginning August 24.

– Over the course of the competition, the IPC will also deliver a steady cadence of live programming and highlights on the Paralympic Games Facebook Page.

– Earlier this summer, we launched a Reels-centric series on the @instagram account, which brought fans behind the scenes with Para athletes as they prepared for Tokyo.

Facebook has also worked with the IPC to bring to Facebook Watch, a four part film series that explores how sports has created a change in a positive direction for disabled communities around the world. We’re listing down the films for you to watch.

Surf For All

Wheelblazers

The Beautiful Game

A Best Friend

Facebook previously connected fans to the Olympic Games. To know more about that in our previously covered article. Click Here.