The 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off last Friday in Beijing, but did you know you can catch all of the action from the comfort of you VR headset? We’ve rounded up three sure-fire ways to get your head in the games.

NBC Olympics VR by Xfinity (Quest)

Comcast and NBCUniversal have launched an NBC Olympics VR by Xfinity app for Quest, which includes a host of 180-degree video from the games’ opening ceremony and select events, such as alpine skiing, hockey, bobsled and speed skating. Here’s a peek at what to expect in-app:

In all, the app promises over 150 hours of immersive 8K coverage which you can view with up to three other Quest or Quest 2 users for a social viewing party. There’s also a schedule and medal count available so you can keep track of everything that’s going on.

The catch: only US-based users can watch, and have to authenticate a paid TV service, be it cable, dish, or Internet TV like YouTube TV or Hulu.

Download ‘NBC Olympics App’ on Quest

Web Browser (SteamVR, Quest)

If you’re outside of the US or don’t own a Meta Quest, you’re a bit boned when it comes to immersive coverage of the Winter Olympics this year. Still, you can watch from the comfort of most headsets by using a web browser.

For Quest, you can use the built-in Oculus Browser, or download Firefox Reality if you’re already a Firefox users and want to keep your tabs synced between devices. These offer good viewing experiences of standard streaming video, which you can stretch to the size of a movie screen. Your regional provider most likely has a website dedicated to livestreaming Winter Olympics coverage, so that’s your best bet.

On PC VR headsets, you can use a host of methods for mirroring your monitor to your headset. You can user Bigscreen (more on that below), VR Desktop, or Steam’s native desktop window mirror option. I personally like Bigscreen because it’s free, can be set to private mode so you don’t need to be social, and has a bunch of immersive theater environments to choose from.

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Bigscreen (SteamVR, Quest)

When it doubt, Bigscreen saves the day for all of your video streaming needs. Since public viewing rooms oftentimes feature popular events, you won’t have any trouble finding a few people sitting down to catch almost any event of this year’s Winter Olympics.

Granted, we’re talking about standard video streams here (not immersive video), but you may find it more exciting to watch alongside fans from around the world.

The good news is you won’t need to sign in to any service besides Bigscreen since you’re essentially just watching someone else’s steam—like hanging out at a friend’s house. It’s also free, and offers the highest-quality video viewing experiences we’ve seen in VR. And if people annoy you, just mute or hide them entirely for a worry free viewing experience.

Download ‘Bigscreen’ on Quest

Download ‘Bigscreen’ on SteamVR

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Are you watching the Winter Olympics in VR this year? Let us know how in the comments section below!

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • sebrk

    Hard pass on Chinese olympics.

    • xyzs

      Hard pass on Chinese Olympics…,
      but when it’s about your VR headset, no problem with Chinese made stuff…

      As usual, people like you display their fake activism in public, but they betray their own principles at the second it becomes a little inconvenient…

      • Alexisms

        Indeed. I wonder if they’ve looked to see where their VR headset was made?

        • LetsThinkAboutIT

          Where isn’t EVERYTHING made these days that has anything to do with technology? You hardly have a choice anymore. Why, because we all want to save 10-15%, fine if we have to throw it away in 2 years because it’s crap not made to last, don’t care if we take jobs away from your neighbors doing so, a repressed people have to build, let some other nation deal with the pollution and then complain about them, and send thousands of dollars per person a year for your little junk they convince you you need to a nation that wants to take over any country that has resources they require to keep it all running. We are already become consuming only distribution workers while we watch tyrannical governments making the world sick, and huge corporations take over the world. Sometimes I am happy I probably havent many years left. We fools have let this world go to $hit to save a few bucks and increase profits by 3% all while taking in everything you are told without thinking. Anyone who raises a question on the insanity before us, you get the “racist, conspiracy, oh who cares comeback” by ‘the intelligent ones’.

          Enjoy your little crap while you can, you haven’t many years left.

      • sebrk

        I limit China as much as I can in my life. I do recognize the double standard. Still doesn’t mean I can have an opinion where I CAN try to make an effort. It’s not a binary world. Being an oppressive dictatorship is.

        • TheChineseGovernment

          Do you pay tax? dictatorship…do you pay rent? dictatorship…do you pay morgage, healtcare, shopping, phone, car, governments,
          police, millitary…all dictatorships. So what else is new? China? hahahaha you pieps are so brainwashed thinking you are free?
          Tho I wish evryone a lovely day!

      • kakek

        Well, they make great VR headset ( as long as it’s conceived somewhere else ) but shitty winter olympics.
        So yeah.

      • Arno van Wingerde

        You sure have a point there… and I do buy loads of Chinese goods. However, the Olympics are very symbolic. If fewer people watch that is a major problem for the bottom line because of ads revenue. So… I don’t mind that athletes who have trained for years for that moment go there to compete, but I feel slightly less inclined to look myself and I think it OK that the West generally sent few diplomats to attend the opening.

  • waetherman

    I just tried the demo and I think it’s pretty good. I wish that I could manually choose the camera angle instead of being teleported where they think I want to watch from, but still it’s a pretty immersive experience. My biggest issue though is that it requires a cable/satellite subscription. As a cord-cutter, I don’t have one. But I do have Peacock that I subscribed to just for the Olympics, and it’s frustrating that the VR isn’t part of that – no way to connect the Peacock account to the VR. I guess I didn’t know about the VR before subscribing so I can’t say I’m disappointed, but it does add to my issues with Peacock and Olympics coverage.