As the Winter Olympics are about to begin with tonight’s Opening Ceremonies, Panasonic will announce that the company has partnered with 16-year-old U.S. Women’s figure skater Mirai Nagasu and her parents, from Arcadia, Ca., to create what may be the first skating video ever shot in 3D.
In fact, it may be the first 3D video deal with an Olympian from any sport as the athlete heads into competition.
3DHollywood.net has learned that an announcement will be made Friday (Feb. 12) detailing the partnership between Panasonic and Mirai in which she and her parents, who own a restaurant in Arcadia, have been chosen as the latest to become one of Panasonic’s “Living in HD” families. Whereas most of the LiHD families in the past three years have had their home supplied with a suite of interconnected Panasonic HD products (Viera flat panel HDTVs, home theater systems, Blu-ray Disc players, Lumix digital cameras and HD camcorders) to provide feedback on how they use the products in their everyday lives, the Nagasu family will be the first family in the program to receive a Full HD 3D Home Theater System, coming from Panasonic this spring and summer.
Sixteen-year-old Mirai is in Vancouver to attend the Opening Ceremonies Friday night with her fellow Olympians before flying home to continue training until a few days before her competitions on Feb. 23rd and 25th. She will be providing regular behind-the-scenes insights of her first Olympic experience during the next two weeks with fellow LivingInHD.com community members via Twitter, Facebook and Panasonic’s LivingInHD.com support website for people who are interested in all the different HD products available.
The Nagasu family will also utilize Panasonic Lumix digital cameras and camcorders while at the Vancouver Olympic Games and share the images on LivingInHD.com.
The 3D video will be a demonstration of the key elements in an Olympic figure skating program, which Panasonic will present on the LivingInHD site.
“We are looking forward to working with Mirai to link the highly-visual world of figure skating with the immersive experience of Full HD 3D for the home,” saidBob Greenberg, Panasonic’s Vice President of Brand Marketing for North America.
Panasonic is the official worldwide Olympic partner in the audio and visual equipment category for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
— By Scott Hettrick