Shanghai Media Tech (SMT), the technology arm of state broadcaster Shanghai Media Group (SMG), has built a mixed reality (MR) production studio to support Great Sports — SMG’s sports channel in its coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026, as the company has shared on its social media.

According to SMT, the studio uses MR virtual production technology with the intention of dissolving the physical boundaries of the broadcast space. This aims to enable seamless switching between multiple scenic areas within a single set.

The system combines deep integration of functional modules with real-time virtual foreground overlays. This produces a panoramic, multi-purpose broadcast interface designed to upgrade the immersive quality of the viewing experience despite limited physical studio space.

The deployment builds on SMT’s established virtual-production capabilities. The company’s MR Lab — equipped with Zero Density, Pixotope and ChyronHego systems — has previously supported 4K UHD virtual productions for regional broadcasters, including work with iQiyi Sports around the 2024 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.

More recently, SMT’s Feiniu studio built a 180-degree, fully transparent virtual studio for Great Sports incorporating Greater Bay Area landmark visuals, using AR foreground elements and floating large-screen graphics to expand visual storytelling within constrained physical footprints — a similar production philosophy to the one now applied to the World Cup coverage.