Will anyone be on fire?
For the first time tonight, during the game between the Lakers and the Bucks, basketball fans will be able to get all their information on one screen. And it’s all thanks to Full Court Press by Second Spectrum.
Full Court Press gives viewers a few options for an overlay for the game. It uses machine learning and about 8-10 cameras to track what’s going on on the court and make predictions. The company has contacts with pretty much every NBA team to provide statistics. But the overlays will be a step further.
The secret is really in the software.
What we have done is automate the identification of things like pick and roll, pick and roll defense, off-ball screens. We have AI-generated identification of all of these complex on-court actions.
Second Spectrum CEO Rajiv Maheswaren
All that data is valuable to team. And they’ve actually asked how it could be presented in video for replay in the past. That, in turn, brought Second Spectrum to develop CourtVision.
We’ve had teams who have said, ‘We’d like to present information to our players and coaches this way’. At the end of the day, teams watch a lot of video and players watch a lot of video. Augmentation is a way to make it not only more engaging but more informative.
Second Spectrum CEO Rajiv Maheswaren
CourtVision will make its broadcast debut during tonight’s game on ESPN3. Dubbed Full Court Press, it will give viewers 3 overlay options.
The first is Coach Mode. It overlays diagrams of recent plays, as well as other bits of information.
There’s a lot of things going on that your eye might not catch if you’re always watching the ball. Players are running interesting off-ball screens and doing interesting actions. The animations and graphics point your eyes to that.
Second Spectrum CEO Rajiv Maheswaren
The second is Player Mode. That relays info on the sorts of decisions players make on the court. Things like a player’s likelihood of making good shots.
Sometimes you have arguments if a player should have shot or passed and the Player Mode answers those questions in a direct way.
Second Spectrum CEO Rajiv Maheswaren
The third is Mascot Mode. And it an basically be described as “NBA Jam Mode”. Three-pointers get a flaming 3 on display, and every dunk is visually punctuated by a lightning strike.
This is the first time Second Spectrum’s work will be overlaid over a lve broadcast; though it has been used over replays in the past. Maheswaren sees it as a tipping point for the technology.
Once we get here, we’ve done it,” the company’s CEO said. “From this point on, it’s only going to get better. The design is going to get better, the latency is going to get better, the number of options are going to get better.
Second Spectrum CEO Rajiv Maheswaren
Source: Engadget
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