Major League Baseball and NTT, a global technology and business solutions leader, combined to deliver an innovative remote viewing experience Monday for Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the Astros and Rays.

While the actual game was played at Tropicana Field, NTT’s Ultra Reality Viewing (URV) technology provided a real-time virtual presentation of the contest at MLB Network's studios in Secaucus, N.J. The broadcast was the first of its kind in the United States.

The URV experience combined multiple live 4K camera images from the ballpark into a single image, which was then broadcast onto a video screen standing 39 feet wide and seven and a half feet tall. The massive size of the screen also allowed for a full view of the playing field, provided by a stationary camera angle along the first-base side.

Along with the virtual video stream, the event piped in the natural noise from the ballpark using surround sound, instead of live broadcasters.

Though this was the first URV broadcast in the United States, the Japanese-based NTT had successfully implemented similar broadcasts previously in Japan. MLB and NTT will continue to work together to evaluate ways to further implement this technology to enhance the fan experience. The two organizations announced a multiyear partnership in September.

"[URV] is a very new type, a new generation, of public viewing technology. Viewers can enjoy [games] as if they were in their stadiums," said NTT president and CEO Jun Sawada, when the deal was announced in September. "This is the type of technology solution we'll contribute to the extending of the fan experience -- especially for a new, younger generation of viewers."