How fans watch the game, and how coaches judge the performance of individual players – and whole teams – is about to take a completely new direction following the launch of a research and development program tomorrow. sportsx by MLSE Digital Labs and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Hamza Tehrani, Chief Technology and Digital Officer at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), described it as a “new incubator rooted in research, applied science and product development, in collaboration with AWS”.
SportsX starts after one announcement Of the two organizations, created last February, both have “innovated the way some of Canada’s most famous sports franchises – the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Football Club (FC), and Toronto Argonauts – create and deliver extraordinary sporting moments.” Innovated to change and drive fan engagement.
As part of the agreement, MLSE selected AWS as its official cloud provider as well as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning cloud services.
The company said it will use the AWS portfolio of cloud capabilities including ML, advanced analytics, compute, database and storage services to “support its teams and lines of business. Innovating together, MLSE will build solutions that which will support how teams play on the ice, court, pitch or field; how players stay healthy; how fans connect with each other and experience games; and how sports franchises operate internally. .
Eric Gales, AWS Canada country manager, said that just as the company is “democratizing technology by giving businesses of all sizes” access to the same cloud and AI offerings, “MLSE and AWS will give opportunities to anyone from organizations to superfans.” For taking his amazing ideas and changing the game he loves.
The media were introduced to the two pilots on Monday night at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena – Immersive Basketball Experience (IBX) And NHL Augmented Reality Stats Overlay – Both of them exemplify the direction in which SportsX is headed.
One took place in a Raptors’ practice facility and is based on augmented reality technology that “combines optical tracking body pose data, 3D models and a video game development engine to provide an experience compatible with any Mixed Reality headset.”
That experience means that, through the headset, users can experience a basketball game from the perspective of fans sitting on the side of the court, coaches on the bench, or even the players themselves sitting on the floor.
The other, displayed during the Maple Leafs’ tilt with the New York Islanders, provided a new way to watch live hockey games through real-time statistics. NHL Edge, the league’s puck and player tracking technology that is currently deployed in all 32 NHL arenas and used in all NHL games. Through the use of AR glasses, SportsX created an overlay that allows fans to access data from NHL Edge, which, according to a fact sheet, “takes viewers deeper into the play on the ice.”
“Infrared technology embedded in the puck and players provides dozens of new insights for fans on things like puck possession, speed and distance traveled. The system has the ability to generate nearly one million 3D coordinates and data points during a regulation game.
“Technology is demonstrated live using AWS Multi-Access Edge Compute (MEC) infrastructure. Tracking technology A new digital fan experience pushing the boundaries of technology by giving fans access to information about sports in real time combines.
The program, a release said, “is designed with a bottom-up approach to capture, analyze and build on the best ideas from key stakeholders, including coaches, fans, partners and employees. Feasibility in MLSE environment The ideas selected to be developed, developed and tested will be evaluated with the goal of creating solutions that can benefit the sports industry at large.
“A dedicated SportsX web portal accompanies the launch, where interested stakeholders can join the collective and receive updates about openings for idea submission.”
in an interview with IT World CanadaTehrani described this week’s announcements as the start of an “innovation partnership” that will involve not only MLSE and AWS, but potentially an entire fan base.
He added that the SportsX web portal will allow anyone from sports fans to academics to submit their recommendations on what they would like to see, and more importantly, how it can be achieved. “The next great idea,” Tehrani said, “can come from anywhere.
“There really isn’t anything like it in sports and I think over time we’re going to discover some incredible technological enablers for sports and entertainment.
“Where do we think the NHL technology will go? And where do we think the NBA technology will go? We really don’t know at this point, but to have a research and development mindset and to keep the two entities together , on top of that working with the rest of the smart people in academia, research and other places, that’s not really something that exists in the game.
Meanwhile, Christian Magassi, vice president of technology and digital at MLSE, said that there are three primary goals associated with the SportsX initiative, the first being to create experiences for fans that they’ve never had before.
“Second clearly, you want to create a competitive edge for teams, and with the help of AWS and the R&D program that SportsX has built, it will help us do that. And third, and perhaps most important, is we want to make a positive social impact – environmental and social.
