43 THE LIVE LIFE AI Production
Mobile Viewpoint’s AI-driven production solution makes broadcasting possible for any sport, anywhere RAISING THE IQ OF SPORTS PRODUCTION
Words by Adrian Pennington
he evergreen popularity of live sports is part symptom and part cause of the rapid adoption of video streaming
Whether by analysing audio signals, video images, identifying people and objects, or selecting and controlling cameras, AI raises the possibilities for working without expensive human crews. Algorithms can automatically generate replays and graphics, provide extensive metadata and then livestream the content. AI (which you might describe as augmented or assisted intelligence) could revolutionise the industry. Dutch developer Mobile Viewpoint is not alone in looking to extend its capabilities beyond the competitive cellular uplinks market. Canada’s Dejero has a mobile app that helps bridge the gap between traditional remote production and cloud production. While TVU Networks has identified automatic
sports logging and production as a related field for its core bonded cellular units. Mobile Viewpoint, though, has arguably gone further than its competitors in co-opting AI into the workflow. The company has worked with Dutch research institute TNO to retune an off-the-peg AI brain from Google’s TensorFlow to fit the patterns, behaviours and relevant data sets of live streamed football. The package, branded IQ Sports Producer, comprises two parts and includes a 32MB dome camera, containing four lenses, the feed from which is stitched into a 180° panoramic field-of-view. De-warping and stitching technology provides a corrected image with straight line markings. This image can be cut out,
services. But while the demand is huge, only half of the opportunity is being seized. Accelerating output and offering access to a wider range of sports coverage is the next big challenge and one that automated production systems can help deliver. “Just as we have seen costly satellite trucks replaced by backpack- sized live video transmission units, artificial intelligence will deliver similar cost savings for live production and streaming,” says Michel Bais, managing director at Mobile Viewpoint, developers of a system for sending video over the Internet using mobile networks.
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