Swedish communications and technology company Ericsson has developed a software system that will allow sports broadcasters to lay 3D graphics over the actual broadcast. What Ericsson has dubbed the Piero Augmented Reality essentially allows broadcasters of a live studio or sports game to overlay the camera view with special graphics.
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Besides merely putting a basic graph up on the broadcast, the Piero Augmented Reality system comes with a host of new features, upgraded from their previous system. Now, replays and even the live game can be displayed on the studio floor as a 3D hologram of sorts.
It includes a 3D heat map that shows where players have been on the field, along with another 3D heat graphic of where penalty shots were taken on goal. Both of these features are based on Opta Sports data.
The Piero Augmented Reality also comes with the ability to map out a team’s passes through the course of the game, and visualize a sequence of passes that lead up to a goal. The last new item that Ericsson has added to a sports broadcaster’s repertoire is a visualization of a goal and the shot attempts and scored goals on net.
Most of these features are focused around the game of soccer, seeing as that is the most popular sport in Europe. The BBC is experimenting with the technology on their Match of the Day program. It is fairly easy to use, as the graphics can be put up traditionally by a system operator, but also by the actual presenter via a tablet device.
The next step for Ericsson would be to adapt this for more sports, and eventually an American audience. It adds an extra bit of zeal for any sports broadcasting operation.