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
TAYLOR’S TAKE ON THE WEEK IN SPORTS TECH: It was Christmas morning on Thursday for soccer fans as the World Cup kicked off in Russia. The host country breezed by Saudi Arabia in the opening match, 5-0, but as usual with this tournament, the storylines went far beyond the pitch. Uruguay took down Egypt, 1-0, in Friday’s early bout. Matches run through July 15 and will usually air live in the U.S. in the morning. Here’s the full schedule. Fox is airing all 64 matches, both on Fox and Fox Sports channels. If you have a cable log in, you can… Read More
Rep the Squad is shutting down. The Seattle-based sports jersey rental service announced its closure on Monday. Rep the Squad CEO Brian Watkins told GeekWire that the company was unable to land more investor dollars to keep the business going. “Despite great retention rates, very strong NPS scores, and rapidly falling acquisition costs, we were unable to secure sufficient new investors to match our ambitions for nationwide expansion,” he said in an email. Founded last year, Rep the Squad used a Netflix-like model, charging customers $19.95 per month to receive selected jerseys in the mail, one at a time. Customers could… Read More
TAYLOR’S TAKE ON THE WEEK IN SPORTS TECH: You watch Game 1 last night? What drama! LeBron put up a career playoff-high 51 points but the Cavs still lost in overtime. “NBA Twitter” was on fire, again, whether it was discussion about J.R. Smith’s blunder or LeBron’s press conference walk-out. Why does it seem like the NBA has embraced digital tools better than any other league? Jason Gay at the The Wall Street Journal examined this question after the fiasco earlier this week involving Philadelphia 76ers GM Bryan Colangelo and The Ringer‘s impressive Twitter sleuthing. While it’s a nightmare situation for the 76ers, the NBA is… Read More
Seattle-area businesses — including Amazon, Boeing, and Microsoft — have given $7 million in cash and $2 million in in-kind donations to support the 2018 Special Olympics. Microsoft announced the donations at an event hosted its Redmond, Wash. campus Wednesday. Microsoft is the presenting sponsor of the games, which will be held in Seattle July 1-6. Microsoft kicked off its two-day Ability Summit Wednesday with a series of speakers discussing the importance of inclusion of people with disabilities. Alaska Airlines, Kaiser Permanente, Starbucks, and REI also contributed funds to support the games. The agenda included a high-profile group of speakers, including Washington Gov.… Read More
