Government-backed Weavr unveils first working prototype

The Weavr consortium has publicly unveiled and demonstrated its first prototype mobile application.

The project was awarded a two-year demonstrator grant by the UK Research and Innovation public body in January, receiving £4 million.

Since the consortium was founded earlier this year, it has built a functional prototype of a third-party analytics and viewing platform which was first tested at ESL One Birmingham in May. Weavr is set to debut new products by the time ESL One Hamburg comes around in October.

Nigel Adams, Minister for Sport, Media and the Creative Industries commented in a release: “Weavr were awarded £4 million through the Audiences of the Future Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help it create a new platform to transform the way fans remotely engage with live sports, so it is exciting to see its first working prototype launch. I’ve no doubt creative companies such as Weavr will, with its innovative product having far-reaching commercial value for the UK, be at the heart of the nation’s economy for many years to come.”

James Dean, CEO of ESL UK & Weavr added: “We’re so pleased with the fans’ reactions to Weavr so early in development. We set out to revolutionise the sport and esports viewing experience and we’re well on the way to that. We’re looking forward to working with everyone – fans, players, publishers and more – to keep the momentum up and keep changing viewing for the better”.

Esports Insider says: We were convinced that the six companies under the Weavr would come up with something new and exciting and they appear to have done just that. The true tests come in the form of using the technology at events and it went well at ESL One Birmingham, so things appear to be running very smoothly at Weavr. We can’t wait to see what comes next!

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