24 TECHFEED Augmented Reality
too, designed to be a plug and play option for on the road events. The Brainstorm tech also played a role in creating the “hyper-realistic” 4K augmented reality elements that were broadcast as part of the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. The AR components included a dome made of stars and virtual fireworks that were synchronised and matched with the real event footage and inserted into the live signal for broadcast. As with the WWE, Brainstorm combined the render engine graphics of its eStudio virtual studio product with content from Unreal Engine within InfinitySet. The set-up also included two Ncam-tracked cameras and a SpyderCam for tracked shots around and above the stadium. InfinitySet 3 also comes with a VirtualGate feature which allows for the integration of the presenter not only in the virtual set but also inside additional virtual content within it, so the talent in the virtual world can be ‘teletransported’ to any video with full broadcast continuity. AUGMENTED REALITY FOR REAL SPORTS ESPN has recently introduced AR elements to refresh the presentation of its long- running sports discussion show, Around the Horn . The format of the show is in the style of a panel game and involves sports pundits located all over the US talking with the host, Tony Reali, via a video conference link. The new virtual studio environment, created by the DCTI Technology Group using Vizrt graphics and Mo-Sys camera tracking, gives the illusion that the panellists are in the studio with Reali. Viz Virtual Studio software can manage the tracking data coming in for any tracking
UPWARD TRAJECTORY AR elements have improved quickly, moving from looking quite artificial to being photo realistic
system and works in tandem with Viz Engine for rendering. “Augmented reality is something we’ve wanted to try for years,” Reali told Forbes. “The technology of this studio will take the video game element of Around the Horn to the next level while also enhancing the debate and interplay of our panel.” Since the beginning of this season’s English Premier League, Sky Sports has been using a mobile AR studio for football match presentation on its Super Sunday live double-header and Saturday lunchtime live matches. Sky Sports has worked with AR at its studio base in Osterley for some time but by moving it out onto the football pitch it hopes to up its game aesthetically, editorially and analytically. A green screen is rigged and de-rigged
at each ground inside a standard match- day, 5mx5m presentation box with a real window open to the pitch. Camera tracking for the AR studio is done using Stype’s RedSpy with keying on Blackmagic Design Ultimatte 12. Environment rendering is in Unreal 4 while editorial graphics are produced using Vizrt and an NCam plug-in. Sky is exploring the ability to show AR team formations using player avatars and displaying formations on the floor of the studio, appearing in front of the live action football pundits. Sky Sports head of football Gary Hughes says the AR set initially looked “very CGI” and “not very real” but that it has improved a lot since its inception. “With the amount of CGI and video games out there, people can easily tell what is real and what is not. If there is any mystique to it, and people are asking if it is real or not, then I think you’ve done the right thing with AR.” IBERIAN ITERATIONS Spanish sports shows have taken to AR like a duck to water. Multiple shows have taken to using systems and designs from Lisbon’s wTVision, which is part of Spanish media group Mediapro. In a collaboration with Vàlencia Imagina Televisió and the TV channel À Punt, wTVision manages all virtual graphics for the live shows Tot Futbol and Tot Esport . The project combines wTVision’s Studio CG and R³ Space Engine (real-time 3D graphics engine). Augmented Reality graphics are generated with camera tracking via Stype. For Movistar+ shows like Noche de
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