NBA dots 75th anniversary tribute with AR diamonds

The NBA glitzed things up by inserting augmented reality diamonds around the action during its 75th Anniversary celebration and All Star Weekend in February 2022.

As part of several days of festivities, the TV broadcast of its annual All Star Game and special ceremony honoring all time greats inside the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

Television viewers were treated to a sparkly extra treat — augmented reality elements inserted in the air above the action that took place on the court.

The Famous Group worked with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine to insert 750 virtual diamonds that bobbed in the air surrounding the introductions of NBA legends and other proceedings (Famous Group was also behind the AR at Super Bowl LVI).

An additional large diamond was placed prominently in the middle of the action and could be wrapped in a lettering spelling out position names. 

This large diamond could also morph into a giant basketball created using numerous smaller diamonds.

Other AR elements included glossy black elements inspired by a basketball court’s floor markings and shimmering banners.

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The NBA has been marking its 75th anniversary in a variety of ways, including introducing a diamond themed “logoman” figure that appears in its normal logo that will be used to mark the milestone in a variety of formats.

Both diamonds and gold are commonly associated with both 75th and 60th anniversaries.

This includes such applications as British monarchs’ jubilee celebrations marking ascension to the throne, which has used diamonds for the 60th in the past. The current 70th jubilee year is designated as platinum, but no monarch has ever lived long enough to reach the 75th mark, so it’s not clear what would become the symbol of such a celebration if it were to happen since both diamond and gold (for the 50th) have already been used.