The National Basketball Association (NBA) is partnering with Microsoft to put "virtual fans" inside the arena as the season resumes next week in Orlando.

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The NBA is set to resume on July 30 after the league was put int nearly a four-month hiatus due to the global pandemic and after a couple of players tested positive for the coronavirus. Now, the league is back, but with many changes.

Do not expect to see fans sitting inside the arena to cheer and support their teams. This is part of the health and safety guidelines set by the league to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In fact, players and other essential persons were tested for COVID-19 before their recent travel to Orlando.

But the NBA would still be exciting as the league's fans would still be closer to their teams. The NBA is teaming up with Microsoft to put "virtual fans" in the stands of each game using the Teams App of Microsoft and gigantic screens.

According to a published report in Reuters, NBA and Microsoft will equip the arena with 17-foot-tall LED screens that will be placed in the three sides of the arena. The LED screens will be filled with virtual fans, who will sit alongside each other using the Teams app. Moreover, a new feature of the app called "Together mode" will simulate a group of people sitting in a room.

It can be recalled that the NBA recently announced major changes in the season due to the global pandemic. The season was suspended last March after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. Other players have also tested positive for COVID-19 including Kevin Durant.

With the league's plan to resume the season a month ago, NBA officials consulted different experts including country's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helped in creating the health and safety guidelines.

One of the provisions stated in more than a hundred pages guidelines is to have the players, coaching staff, and other essential persons tested for coronavirus. All games will also have to be played in Orlando.

Two players have already tested positive for the coronavirus during the mandatory test. One of them was Houston Rockets' Russell Westbrook, who is now in isolation. He said he is asymptomatic and is feeling well.

On Friday, NBA officials said they are going to revamp their approach on how they would televise the games. They said the cameras will be positioned closer to the players to emulate the vantage point of fans sitting in seats near the court.

In a press conference on Friday, Sara Zuckert, head of Next Gen Telecast at NBA, said: "The majority of our cameras near the court will be robotic for the first time for the safety of the players." This was the first time that the NBA will do technical changes such as this because of the pandemic.

The audio from the virtual fans will also be played and will not be put on mute once the game started to be televised. However, Zuckert said virtual fans are only limited to 320 individuals and they will be selected by the home teams.

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