equipment (like bikes or yachts) to enhance coverage is extensive. One of these innovations is an AI-powered, 3D, athlete-tracking technology developed by Intel and Alibaba. Claimed as a first-of-its-kind use of AI and computer vision, it captures sprinters’ performances from four pan-tilt mounted cameras in the Olympic Stadium. OBS turned the data into visual overlays to show viewers different parameters, such as each runner ’s sprinting speed curve and the representation of the holds and walls. AR technology was used to switch between the live camera shots and the virtual, as well as generating virtual data about varying wall angles and routes. Another data addition focuses intimately on the performance of archers. This includes cameras trained on their faces to analyse the slightest change of skin colour, generated by any contraction of blood vessels. Their heartbeats are also monitored and translated graphically on-screen. Such trials in biometrics stats could be widened to other sports for Beijing. Also trialled at Tokyo were a series of AI-led workflows. This included an Automatic Media Description (AMD) pilot, based on image recognition from an athlete’s bib to speed up the turnaround of automatic searching and clipping. exact moment they reached top speed. For sport climbing, OBS created a 3D
I TELL OUR STAFF, ‘LOTS OF STUFF IS GOING TO GO WRONG. WORK THE PROBLEM, DON’T LOOK BACK. FIX IT AND GET BACK ON THE AIR’
By Beijing 2022, OBS is aiming to expand this process to as many sports as possible and open the service to rights holders. Guillermo Jiménez, OBS director of broadcast engineering, explains: “We could customise the automatic content offering based on user preferences, whether by National Olympic Committee, athlete or sport. It means that, instead of broadcasters searching for content, content will be pushed to them automatically.” OBS has certainly not been knocked off course in its ambition to deliver virtually all host coverage in 4K UHD (some super-slomo cameras are not yet upgraded to UHD and a selection of tennis events were HD only). The master signal includes High Dynamic Range, which dramatically improves overall picture quality. Other innovations include arrays of up to 80 robotic PTZ 4K cameras placed at venues hosting gymnastics, athletics and BMX freestyle. The feeds were stitched together to create replay clips (claimed turnaround of under five seconds) to create an effect similar to the bullet-time shot in The Matrix , where the
feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook