Before you take yet another mulligan, consider that the tool to improving your golf game might not be found in your bag of clubs. The makers of an app that employs artificial intelligence and 3D motion analysis say they’ve created a revolutionary way to improve your golf swing through a video shot on your phone. Sportsbox AI is a startup that launched in 2021 out of AI Thinktank, a Bellevue, Wash.-based incubator for AI ideas founded by tech veterans Mike Kennewick and Rich Kennewick. They’re the brothers who founded Voicebox Technologies, an early leader in speech recognition and natural language tech that sold… Read More
The NBA is tapping the power of its partnership with Microsoft to deliver advanced analytics that offer insights into shots, passes, defense, double teams and more. NBA CourtOptix Powered by Microsoft Azure utilizes the tech giant’s artificial intelligence and machine learning to track and analyze action on the court and turn it into insightful video about how well players perform in various situations and how that data stacks up against league averages. Microsoft partnered with the league last year to become its official AI and cloud partner. They quickly went to work during the shortened 2020 season and used Microsoft… Read More
News Brief: Computer scientists have trained a neural network to transform the action from pre-recorded videos of soccer games into immersive augmented-reality “holograms” you can shrink down onto a tabletop. The artificial-intelligence system developed by the University of Washington’s Konstantinos Rematas and colleagues analyzed 12,000 player models from FIFA, Electronic Arts’ soccer simulation game. Once the system learned to conceptualize the 3-D motions of soccer players, it could convert YouTube videos into 3-D renderings viewable via Microsoft’s HoloLens headset. Someday it may convert live World Cup matches on the fly. But for now, you’ll just have to check out the… Read More
The Dota 2 esports tournament in Seattle, known as The International, demonstrates how video games have become hugely popular team sports — and today alpha geek Elon Musk took the occasion to tout a different kind of team effort. Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, is also a big supporter of OpenAI, a nonprofit research company aimed at boosting artificial intelligence architectures and applications that benefit humanity. Today, OpenAI showed off an AI bot that vanquished Danylo “Dendi” Ishutin, one of the world’s top Dota 2 players, in a one-vs.-one demonstration match. “OK, this guy is scary,” Ishutin said as he… Read More
Fans of the Seattle Mariners might have a lot of questions about why their team is off to a slow start this season. Amazon’s Alexa probably doesn’t have the answers, but the voice-activated artificial intelligence can perform other tasks now at Safeco Field. Guests in 59 private suites at the Mariners home ballpark now have access to Amazon Echo devices enabled with an Alexa skill geared toward helping users further enjoy being out at the old ballgame. With the voice prompt “Alexa, ask the Mariners to …,” users are able to call for their suite attendant and order food and drinks… Read More
