One early example of AR being used in mainstream sports is the Foxtrax puck developed by the Fox network after they began airing National Hockey League games in 1994. The Foxtrax pucks contained electronics that emitted infrared pulses that were detected by specialized equipment in the hockey arenas, which interpreted the puck’s coordinates. Computer graphics could then be superimposed over the puck – the “glowpuck”, as it   became known colloquially, appeared on one’s TV screen with a blue glow emitting from the puck. This was implemented in an effort by Fox to make the game of hockey easier to watch for casual or new fans, as focus groups had indicated that new hockey viewers had trouble following the puck. For additional style points, the puck would glow red when detected to be in excess of 70 miles per hour and leave a comet tail behind it.

While Fox reported success in attracting new viewers after implementing Foxtrax, there was a huge backlash among hockey’s more serious fanbase who saw the visual additions as pointless distractions. Many claimed that the graphics took away from the gritty nature of the game, turning it into something more akin to a video game. The technology turned into a running joke until ABC bought the NHL broadcast rights in 1998 and immediately returned to normal pucks.

While Foxtrax is often seen as a failure, I find it to be a compelling example of AR in that it did have some success in teaching newcomers to watch hockey – its failure was forcing this teaching tool upon those who didn’t need it. One can imagine a person trying to get into hockey by using a personal Foxtrax filter, and then disabling it once they had acclimated to the speed of the game. Foxtrax can serve as a positive example of designing with a specific problem in mind, but also as a negative example of considering one’s audience.