The legendary Alfa5 reopens as the world’s largest XR Sports center

Alfa5 XR Sportsthe world’s largest extended sports center (XR Sports), opens its doors today in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona (Calle Almogàvers 169) with more than 2,000 m² of extended reality sports experiences. The center, aimed at a general and family audience, allows the practice of different sports in environments of virtual reality, metaverse and spaces with state-of-the-art interactive projections.

Alfa5 is the space where everyone can expand human capabilities to reach unimaginable limits: climb the highest peak in the world, paraglide from 4,000 meters above sea level, become an elite soccer player or surpass all possible limits with XR Sports.

Alfa5 features extended reality (XR) technologies, a concept that includes different immersive technologies that add a digital layer to the reality that surrounds us: from virtual reality (VR) to interactive environments.

The new Alfa5 center reopens the doors of the mythical sports center of the same name in the city and consolidates Barcelona as a reference hub for innovation, technology and digital entertainment, as well as the international capital of sportstech.

Alfa5 is a project of Layers of Reality, a pioneering studio in the creation of audiovisual and extended reality content, and Ubae-Eurofitness, a cultural, recreational and sports entity whose purpose is the promotion of culture and sports.

Alfa5 brings in a pioneering way to Barcelona expanded sports, which combine traditional physical sports with cutting-edge immersive technologies of virtual reality, metaverse or interactive projections. This space represents a new way of understanding the fusion of sports values and experiences with state-of-the-art digital technology, which until now had only reached the general public through science fiction. Alfa5 promotes the city of Barcelona as a reference in innovation, sportstech and digital entertainment.

Ana Oliveras, director of Alfa5

Alfa5 is a space for digital innovation linked to sport and culture that aims to investigate the implications of the use of extended reality technology and its influence in a context in which the barriers between disciplines and genders are increasingly blurred.

Jordi Sellas, managing partner of Layers of Reality

Alfa5 XR Sports reopens the doors of the mythical space in the Poblenou neighborhood, which became the largest sports center in Catalonia and a key equipment for Barcelona. The new Alfa5 recovers a reference space in sports practice, now expanded with the combination of digital technologies, and maintains the essence of an open space for all audiences. Alfa5 XR Sports users will be able to explore new limits of sport and adventure with the latest technology.

Anna Pruna, managing partner of Ubae-Eurofitness Group

9 extended sports experiences

Visitors to Alfa5 will be able to participate, individually and collectively, in 9 immersive and interactive experiences, combining fun and competition, in nine different spaces:

• “XR Arena”: the central and largest room at Alfa5, a 200m2 arena with interactive audiovisual technology where participants compete in teams to achieve the best score.
• “XR Aim”: an old space dedicated to shooting practice that recovers the concept in a more virtual version.
• “XR Metaverse”: a metaverse and multiplayer space where participants compete in two teams. Players interact with each other and with digital elements, in real time, with the aim of creating a team strategy and outscoring their rivals.
• “XR Fly”: a virtual reality experience where you can experience the sensations of a real paragliding descent, at 4,000 meters of altitude.
• “XR Laser”: a room where players must cross lasers and reach impossible challenges in the style of action movies such as Mission Impossible or Ocean’s Eleven.
• “XR Adventure”: a 360º virtual reality room that will offer a program of movies related to risk and adventure sports, and which premieres with the movie Everest.
• “XR Ball”: a space with four interactive walls to play soccer, where shooting is the key tool to win. Two game modes are proposed: cooperative or against everyone.
• “XR Tennis”: an old squash room where you can play racquet sports through virtual reality glasses that multiply the experience.
• “XR Wall”: an interactive climbing wall designed for all ages and levels.

The new Alfa5 will also host the Gaming Boxa multigame space with 4 stations formed by several video games from Catalan companies, such as Nomada studio, creator of successful games like Neva or Gris; Infinite Thread Games, authors of ‘Hidalgo’, best video game at the Indie Games 2024 Awards; or Dust Games, made up of current students and alumni of Tecnocampus; among others.

The aim of this space, which will be rotating, is to showcase video games that are in the development phase to promote and disseminate the local talent of companies in the Catalan video game industry. The new XR Sports center also offers a journey through the history of Alfa5 in the “History Hall” space.

A historical space in Catalonia

The former Alfa5, the largest sports center in Catalonia, was inaugurated in Barcelona in 1985, with the ambition of being “the home of anyone who wants to do any kind of sport”. The facility soon became a success, offering in a single space the possibility of practicing any sporting discipline. The former Alfa5 was able to host major sporting and cultural events, making it a reference sports center in the city.

Alfa5, which is already part of the history of the Poblenou neighborhood (Barcelona), has been refurbished to adapt it to the new needs of the project, but maintains the essence and history of the sports center. With the reopening as the largest XR Sports center in the world, Alfa5 recovers its position as a key facility of the city in sports practice, now expanded with the combination of digital technologies.

A shared gamification experience

When visitors enter the center they will receive a wristband that will allow them to participate in all the experiences in the space and will be linked to a user profile. The wristband will also allow them to consult their evolution and rankings. Each time they access the center, they will be able to improve their own scores for each experience, beat their own records, and compete with other users in the different rankings.

The wristband will be loaded with ten Duros, the virtual Alfa5 token that visitors will use to access the experiences. The Duros can be loaded at the center and can be accumulated to return to Alfa5 whenever desired.

The space will be open Tuesday to Thursday from 5pm to 10pm; Friday and Saturday from 5pm to midnight; and Sunday from 10am to 8pm. During the Christmas period, from December 18 to January 6, the space extends its opening hours. Access is recommended for children 6 years and older, and children under 12 years of age must always be accompanied by an adult.

Growth of the extended reality industry (XR)

Extended reality has gained popularity and relevance in recent years and is changing the landscape of various industries. In Spain, the extended reality (XR) industry is at a nascent stage but is evolving rapidly. According to the report “Extended Reality Industry in Spain in 2023” by Immersiva, the Spanish extended reality association, 92% of Spanish XR companies expected to increase their turnover by up to 53% in 2023 compared to the previous year. According to the report, the XR industry in Spain is mainly B2B, for sectors such as tourism and heritage, events, education and marketing.

The global entertainment industry, particularly video games, was one of the first to integrate and leverage augmented reality. Catalonia, with Barcelona as a European hub for innovation and gaming, has great potential to promote these new technologies in the field of entertainment and sports. According to Indescat data, Catalonia is the territory with the highest concentration of sports companies in Europe, with almost 1,230 sports-related companies with a turnover of more than 6,276 million euros and employing nearly 31,000 people.

The city is an unrivaled laboratory at the service of innovation, experimentation and entrepreneurship of the sport tech ecosystem, a space for the constant improvement of infrastructures, tools, instruments and projects applied to sport and other related sectors, according to Barcelona InnovalabSports, with more than 900 clubs and entities, and an agenda of international sporting events.