Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Al Arabiya creates maive augmented reality U.S. election set

04/01/2017

Al Arabiya creates massive augmented reality U.S. election set posted: 04/01/2017

The augmented reality graphics displayed results for the 2016 U.S. election using a 9200 square meter map and 30 meter tall graphics

One of the largest news channels in the Arab region, Al Arabiya, part of the Middle East Broadcast Channel group, wanted to cover the U.S. election in a way that reflected the impact the election has on the Arab world. They also wanted to be able to explain the complexity of the election in a very clear and memorable way for their viewers. To achieve this, Al Arabiya partnered with Vizrt and SpiderCam to create the world's largest augmented reality (AR) set used in a live news production.

During the past elections, we made use of immersive graphics with live data, but for the 2016 US Elections, we thought bigger, says Al Arabiya's Head of Graphics, Fadi Radi.

For 2016, Al Arabiya took their election show outdoors and used the MBC building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as a backdrop for a giant virtual videowall, and the Dubai Media City lake as a platform on which to place various other immersive graphics, such as maps, dynamic 3D models, comments from social media, and live election results.

MBC's team of designers worked in Viz Artist to design the election graphics as immersive objects. The sizing and positioning of the graphics had to be estimated, since the physical set-up would not be in place until four days before the election.

Spidercam typically installs their camera rigs in stadiums where existing support structures are in place, but for the Al Arabiya election coverage, the venue was a public location with the camera operating above a large lake. Lacking any natural structures around the lake to mount the winches to, temporary cranes on one side of the lake, and trusses mounted on the roof of the MBC building on the other side of the lake, were used to provide the anchor points for the system.

Another challenge was the outdoor location itself. Although rain was unlikely in Dubai at that time of year, the potential for high winds in such an exposed location that could interfere with the stability of the camera system was always a risk. However, on the night, the weather conditions were favourable, and the stability gyros built into the Spidercam system were more than capable of handling the prevailing weather conditions. The production went very well with stable camera shots and high quality tracking data throughout the production.

Vizrt has been working with Al Arabiya for over ten years. When approached to take part in a project of this scale it was obvious that the best resources needed to be allocated to ensure that the coverage went smoothly. Viz Virtual Studio engineers were on site to test the system ahead of the the election night and work with Spidercam to calibrate and test the tracking systems. The Vizrt system comprised of a single Viz Engine to generate and display all of the live election graphics in real-time. Spidercam provided live tracking data that was processed with Vizrt's Tracking Hub to accurately control the graphics during the live presentation.

Al Arabiya has a track-record of thinking big, but this concept is on a completely different level, said Ian Davies, Regional Manager of Vizrt Middle East. When I first heard about the project, it was clear that it was going to be a visually stunning production, with Al Arabiyas talented team of designers producing graphics for such a beautiful outdoor location, but I think the results surprised everyone by being even better than we had imagined.

Davies continued, Given the high profile nature of the event, it was critical that the right resources were provided to support Al Arabiya, so Vizrt supplied the latest and most powerful Viz Engine for the project, plus specialist technical resources to help ensure that everything went smoothly. I think the results speak for themselves. This was truly a world-class production that raised the standards for everyone.

The result was a visually stunning AR presentation that gave the viewers detailed insights in the historic U.S. election.

Al Arabiya election coverage by the numbers:

150 people involved from Al Arabiya, Vizrt and Spidercam

Complex 3D models with up to 80 million polygons

9290 square meters of augmented reality graphics over Dubai Media City lake

2025 square meter videowall in front of the MBC building

55% of total viewers in the Middle East watched the election on Al Arabiya

82,000,000 Al Alabiya social media followers
LINK: http://www.live-production.tv/news/political-events/al-arabiya-creates...
See more stories from liveproduction

Most recent headlines

18/11/2025

Oregon Municipal Channel Upgrades Visuals With Telycam PTZs

KEIZER, Ore. Municipal broadcaster Keizer City Television, K23 TV, has deployed four Telycam PTZ cameras to upgrade the visual quality of its live meeting cover...

18/11/2025

Peacock to Stream EA Sports Madden NFL Cast on Thanksgiving

STAMFORD, Conn. NBC Sports and Peacock have announced that they are working for the second consecutive year with the National Football League, EA Sports and Gen...

18/11/2025

Research: Netflix Boosts Viewing With Familiar Kids Franchises

LONDON A new Ampere Analysis study finds that familiar franchises are successfully driving kids' TV consumption on Netflix and that the streamers big bet on...

18/11/2025

Content Discovery Still a Challenge for Streamers: Hub Study

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. TV viewers continue to find it challenging to find relevant programs in the fragmented universe of streaming content, according to new findings...

18/11/2025

20 Bob Dylan Songs That Reflect a Legacy of A-Changin

20 Bob Dylan Songs That Reflect a Legacy of A-Changin On the heels of Bob Dylan receiving a Berklee honorary doctorate, we take stock of one of the most singu...

17/11/2025

EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast to Return Thanksgiving Night With Immersive, Data-Driven Broadcast on Peacock

EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast to Return Thanksgiving Night With Immersive, Data-Driv...

17/11/2025

Behind the Broadcast Booth: Impact Ventures' Greer Christian on Building Her Career Around Passion

Behind the Broadcast Booth: Impact Ventures' Greer Christian on Building Her...

17/11/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Sportradar's Brian Josephs Talks Peacock's Powerful Performance View - and Just Telling Better Sports Stories

SVG Sit-Down: Sportradar's Brian Josephs Talks Peacock's Powerful Perfor...

17/11/2025

2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Greg Gumbel, Iconic Voice and Comforting Presence

2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Greg Gumbel, Iconic Voice and Comforting ...

17/11/2025

ESPN, Pixar, the NFL, and Beyond Sports Team Up for ESPN's Dec. 8 Monsters, Inc.' MNF' Altcast Effort

ESPN, Pixar, the NFL, and Beyond Sports Team Up for ESPN's Dec. 8 Monsters,...

17/11/2025

SVG Sit-Down: EA SPORTS' Evan Dexter on How the EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast' Blends Gaming and Live NFL Production

SVG Sit-Down: EA SPORTS' Evan Dexter on How the EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast&#...

17/11/2025

Cast your votes and sail into 2026 with the return of SBS's the Chillest 100

Cast your votes and sail into 2026 with the return of SBS's the Chillest 100 17 November, 2025 Media releases Voting is now open for Australia's ul...

17/11/2025

Building a unified, secure localisation operating model with Blue Lucy

When VSI Group, one of the world's leading localisation providers, set out to modernise its complex, multi-site operations built through years of acquisitio...

17/11/2025

Sinclair Acquires 8% Stake in E.W. Scripps

Dealmaking for broadcast stations continues to heat up, with Sinclair reporting it has built up a 8.2% stake in E.W. Scripps and has been talking with Scripps f...

17/11/2025

ITU: 6 Billion Now Online Globally

The worlds online population grew by more than 240 million people in 2025, according to Facts and Figures 2025 released today by the International Telecommunica...

17/11/2025

ASB GlassFloor Launches an Elite Training Facility in Par...

ASB GlassFloor, the leading provider in LED sports flooring, today announced the opening of Athletes Lab 2.0, a premier athletic training facility designed to e...

17/11/2025

SmallHD Unlocks Camera Control for Canon

SmallHD today announced the release of its popular Camera Control for Canon cinema cameras. This new integration enables filmmakers to adjust critical camera se...

17/11/2025

Matthews Helps Samuel and Sons Bring Luxury Trim to Life...

Luxury is in the details, and no one captures that better than the creative team at Samuel & Sons. As the visionaries behind iconic photography and advertising ...

17/11/2025

One Giant Leap for AI Physics: NVIDIA Apollo Unveiled as Open Model Family for Scientific Simulation

NVIDIA Apollo - a family of open models for accelerating industrial and computat...

17/11/2025

NVIDIA Accelerated Computing Enables Scientific Breakthroughs for Materials Discovery

To power future technologies including liquid-cooled data centers, high-resoluti...

17/11/2025

Accelerated Computing, Networking Drive Supercomputing in Age of AI

At SC25, NVIDIA unveiled advances across NVIDIA BlueField DPUs, next-generation networking, quantum computing, national research, AI physics and more - as accel...

17/11/2025

NVIDIA Accelerates AI for Over 80 New Science Systems Worldwide

Across quantum physics, digital biology and climate research, the world's researchers are harnessing a universal scientific instrument to chart new frontier...

17/11/2025

The Great Flip: How Accelerated Computing Redefined Scientific Systems - and What Comes Next

It used to be that computing power trickled down from hulking supercomputers to ...

17/11/2025

VEON Commences USD 100 million Buyback Program

17 Nov 2025 VEON Commences USD 100 million Buyback Program Dubai, November 17, 2025: VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator ( VEON or the Compan...

17/11/2025

Sky brings top comedy talent to screens with new stand-up specials

Monday 17 November 2025 Sky brings top comedy talent to screens with new stand-up specials Sky and streaming service NOW are bringing audiences a fresh dose o...

16/11/2025

Viper Shield Advances Production for Global F-16 Fleet

L3Harris to deliver advanced electronic warfare systems quickly for worldwide F-16 programs...

16/11/2025

Symphony MKII TB2 to TB3 Self Install Guide

Upgrading your Apogee Symphony MKII from TB2 to TB3: Need to Knows Upgrading your Apogee interface to Thunderbolt 3 isn't difficult - but it's not a cas...

16/11/2025

Apogee Electronics Acquired by Dirk Ulrich's Rockforce Tech Holding, Parent Company of Manley Labs

Apogee Electronics Acquired by Dirk Ulrich's Rockforce Tech Holding, Parent ...

15/11/2025

Disney, YouTube TV Reach Multi-Year Distribution Deal

BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company and YouTube TV have reached a new multi-year distribution agreement, ending a carriage dispute that had blacked out ABC,...

15/11/2025

ATSC 3.0 Interop Puts NextGen TV's Advanced Features in the Crosshairs

PLYMOUTH, Wis. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Systems headquarte...

15/11/2025

NBCUniversal to Launch NBC Sports Network on Nov. 17

NEW YORK NBCUniversal has announced that it will be launching NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), a 24/7 linear network featuring a wide range of marquee sporting event...

15/11/2025

FCC Updates Agenda for November Open Meeting

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released an updated agenda for its Open Meeting on Thursday, November 20, 2025, which is scheduled to comme...

15/11/2025

Study: DOCSIS 3.1 Drives 3X Increase in Median Broadband Usage

JERSEY CITY, N.J. OpenVault has released new data showing that DOCSIS 3.1 and higher services are driving significant across-the-board increases in speed and co...

15/11/2025

Gray Media Inks OTA Deal for Ohio Valley Conference Basketball

ATLANTA Gray Media has concluded an agreement with the Ohio Valley Conference ( OVC ) to broadcast OVC college basketball games across 20 Gray markets in five s...

15/11/2025

Wheatstone Names Darrin Paley VP of Business Accounts

NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone has named company veteran Darrin Paley vice president of business accounts, effective immediately....

15/11/2025

Netflix Serves Up the Trailer for Dining with the Kapoors': A Celebration of Legacy, Laughter and Love

Back to All News Netflix Serves Up the Trailer for Dining with the Kapoors'...

14/11/2025

Op-Ed: The Automation Imperative - Why AI Is the Only Scalable Defense Against Live-Sports Piracy

Op-Ed: The Automation Imperative - Why AI Is the Only Scalable Defense Against L...

14/11/2025

FutureSPORT 2025: Caretta Research on Why Streaming Won't Save Broadcasters

FutureSPORT 2025: Caretta Research on why streaming won't save broadcasters By Jo Ruddock Monday, November 10, 2025 - 14:37 Print This Story Caretta R...

14/11/2025

Daneysse Daniels, Emmy-Winning Production Manager and Beloved Teammate at TNT Sports, ESPN, and FOX Sports, Passes Away at 35

Daneysse Daniels, Emmy-Winning Production Manager and Beloved Teammate at TNT Sp...

14/11/2025

The NBA 2K League Returns as an Immersive Entertainment Ecosystem' With Non-Stop Multiplatform Content

The NBA 2K League Returns as an Immersive Entertainment Ecosystem' With Non...

14/11/2025

Inaugural SVG LIVE! Conference Brings 250+ Top Sports and Entertainment Production Leaders Together in L.A.

Inaugural SVG LIVE! Conference Brings 250 Top Sports and Entertainment Producti...

14/11/2025

From Family Band to Icon: Selena y Los Dinos is a Loving Tribute to the Queen of Tejano

(L-R) Suzette Quintanilla, Isabel Castro, and Chris P rez attend the 2025 Sundan...

14/11/2025

Casa Spotify Celebrates Latin Music's Biggest Week in Las Vegas

This week, Casa Spotify lit up Las Vegas with an unforgettable celebration of Latin music and culture ahead of the 26th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Hosted at th...

14/11/2025

Boston Conservatory Orchestra to Perform at Carnegie Hall for United Nations General Assembly

Boston Conservatory Orchestra to Perform at Carnegie Hall for United Nations Gen...

14/11/2025

Berklee Alum Lewis Pickett Wins Record of the Year at Latin Grammy Awards

Berklee Alum Lewis Pickett Wins Record of the Year at Latin Grammy Awards Pickett, a 2009 graduate, was nominated six times across three categories at this ye...

14/11/2025

ATSC 3.0 Interop Puts NextGen TV Advanced Features In The Crosshairs

PLYMOUTH, Wisc. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Services headquar...

14/11/2025

NECF Launches Patented AI Platform That Turns Idle Contro...

What if your idle operations centers, inactive cloud time, staff or you as a freelancer could start generating revenue tomorrow? NECF Corporation today announc...

14/11/2025

Dalet Named a Major Player in the 2025 IDC MarketScape fo...

Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, today announced that it has been recognized as a Major Player in the IDC MarketS...

14/11/2025

Record-Breaking Live Broadcast Achieved with Clear-Com at...

The recent ADAC RAVENOL 24h Race at Germany's legendary N rburgring circuit marked a milestone for live broadcast production, and Clear-Com played a pivota...