The majestic 124-year-old Grand Palais was home to Taekwondo at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on August 7-10. In its seventh consecutive Games, World Taekwondo offered an exciting glimpse into the future with a dazzling showcase of Virtual Taekwondo (VTKD) over the 4-day run.
World Taekwondo’s VTKD gameplay is developed by Refract Technologies and VSPO. In Paris, more than 300 fans signed up to try VTKD. IOC President Thomas Bach also watched the VTKD showcase during his visit on August 8th, as popularity around the virtual sport surges worldwide.
“VTKD offers a barrier-free platform where everyone can play,” enthused World Taekwondo President ChungwonChoue. “It bridges the real and virtual worlds, and I am excited by the positive attributes of fitness and digital engagement that VTKD offers.”
VTKD is a virtual reality-based (VR) taekwondo game where athletes and fans can battle digitally through their avatars by wearing VR headsets and motion-tracking devices on their limbs and body. In essence, the body becomes the controller. The virtual sport has gained widespread popularity in recent years, with a growing number of tournaments being organized worldwide.
VTKD was one of the most watched sports in the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore in June 2023, and the inaugural World Taekwondo Virtual Championships will be held in the city-state on November 16-17, 2024.
“The public tryout was greatly received where participants from the age of 6 to the age of 50 got to experience a future form of taekwondo that has the benefits of being non-contact and highly immersive,” said Chong Geng Ng, founder of Refract Technologies.
Danny Tang, co-founder of Asia’s biggest esports company VSPO, said that VTKD represents an important future for esports where virtual sports can make many contact sports more accessible for fans. Tang said, “Virtual sports is a key area for growth and innovation for our industry because it unlocks so many possibilities for fans – no matter their backgrounds or physical attributes – to experience sports in new and safe ways.”
Committed to align with the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5 vision in growing digital engagement, the VTKD project, initiated by World Taekwondo and Refract in 2018, aims to nurture a new generation of virtual athletes united by the Olympic values of respect, friendship and excellence. The virtual concept of VTKD was first showcased to Mr. Bach during the World Taekwondo Championships in Manchester, U.K., in 2019.
About World Taekwondo
World Taekwondo is the sole international federation governing Taekwondo recognised by the International Olympic Committee, Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, and the International Paralympic Committee. World Taekwondo has a global membership of 213 member national associations, and one refugee team at its promoted events. Under World Taekwondo, the sport has enthralled fans worldwide in seven consecutive Olympic Games since Sydney 2000, and in two Paralympic Games since Tokyo 2020.
About Refract
Established in 2019, Refract is a Singapore-based technology group behind many of the world’s most innovative games and virtual sports. Specialized in AR and XR games, Refract is an industry leader in creating virtual sports such as VTKD (taekwondo) and V-Boxing (boxing) where players can use their bodies as controllers and compete in highly immersive environments.
About VSPO
Founded in 2016, VSPO is the largest esports company in Asia, producing more than 7,000 matches every year that captivate an online fan base of over 800 million. With a global presence encompassing 14 office locations and 8 top-tier esports arenas, VSPO offers a comprehensive suite of esports services, including tournament organization, marketing solutions, community development, and more. VSPO was also an organizer for the esports series at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023 and Jakarta in 2018.
