All Black fans are able to get right inside the haka, with the release today of a world-first virtual reality phone app.
The creators, insurance company AIG and their app designers, were allowed just seconds before the All Blacks ran onto the field in Christchurch this year to set up six multi-pronged cameras, like footballs with lenses pointing in every direction.
With the help of virtual reality goggles, regular fans can experience the haka up close and personal, as if they're standing shoulder to shoulder with McCaw and the boys – or in the opposing team.
"It's a bit like if you're in the team facing it," says skipper Richie McCaw. "It gives you a perspective of the passion and what it means."
The AIG Haka 360º Experience uses new video technology to give fans the feeling of being on the field with the All Blacks. The detail is such that if you look down at the ground, you can even see the sprig holes.
McCaw says people are hugely intrigued by the haka. "They probably don't understand it. I've just had a look through the goggles. It's pretty amazing how up close it is."
The app can be downloaded through haka360.com. Users can view the video on their handset or immerse themselves in the VR experience with custom made AIG Haka 360? goggles.
The first 5000 people to sign up at stuff.co.nz/aighaka360 will get a free pair of AIG Haka 360? Experience virtual reality goggles, to get inside the All Black haka in their own home.
AIG's global sponsorship boss, Daniel Glantz, said they wanted to bring fans closer to the All Blacks – and what better way to do that by using video technology to bring them face to face with the legendary haka?
"The video enables users to look anywhere and control their own experience, allowing them to truly feel like they have taken their place on the field with the All Blacks."
The app goes inside Te Rauparaha's haka, written by the war chief who led Ngati Toa on raids the length of New Zealand.
Te Runanga o Toa Rangatira has worked with the app's designers to ensure the haka is used in a way they are comfortable with.
Iwi chairman Taku Parai said the haka was about educating people. "It's all about the haka being an iconic part of the country. People, they respect it, they sort of connect to it in different ways and they receive a lot of strength and a lot of aspiration and a lot of power from it you know, but it also depends on the context."
Aaron Cruden knows what it's like to be in the middle of a World Cup haka. He says the new app will "bring the fans to the World Cup".
"What they are trying to do is a world first, and that is what the All Blacks are trying to do, go over there to England and win back to back World Cup titles."
The first 5000 people to sign up at stuff.co.nz/aighaka360 will get a free pair of AIG Haka 360? Experience virtual reality goggles, to get inside the All Black haka in their own home.
- Sunday Star Times
