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

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

13/02/2026

OBS Accelerates Shift to Cloud

Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) has provided an update on its adoption of the cloud as it continues on its journey to fully migrate to IT-based systems by 2...

13/02/2026

France Tlvisions Launches France 2 UHD with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to Max out AC-4 Experiences for Winter Olympics Fans

France T l visions has successfully launched France 2 UHD featuring Dolby Vision...

13/02/2026

OBS Expands Athlete Moment,' Family Reunions to Capture Human Side of Winter Games

Partnering with Worldwide Olympic Partner TCL, OBS deploys connected Athlete Mom...

13/02/2026

Men's Figure Skating Photo Gallery

The men's figure skating long-form program is tonight, and it promises to be an exciting night for fans in the stands, fans at home, and even the production...

13/02/2026

Entertainment Takes the NBA Court in a Big Way

With new partnership between the league and NBC, workflows distinguish more between live, broadcast sound There'll be a lot new for the 75th NBA All-Star W...

13/02/2026

SVG GameDay, Episode 3: Sean Tabler - Producing Hockey in the City of Angels

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level have one major thing in common: the intensity and attention to detail ramps up dur...

13/02/2026

Teradek Introduces RF-X, Revolutionizing Mission-Critical Signal Redundancy

Teradek announces the launch of RF-X Auto Switcher, a revolutionary appliance designed to deliver flawless, uncompromised signal integrity for the world's m...

13/02/2026

Synamedia & Globecast Selected for FA Cup Cloud Distribution

Globecast and Synamedia announces that Pitch International (Pitch), the leading London-based sports marketing agency, has gone live with cloud-based distributi...

13/02/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBC Sports' Legendary February Hits Record Viewership Levels

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

13/02/2026

NBC Olympics' Amy Rosenfeld on the Drone Craze, Friends & Family Moments, Stamford's Role for Milano Cortina

Far from the action in the snow and on the ice, the team controls the production...

13/02/2026

2026 Daytona 500: FOX Sports' Mike Davies, George Grill on Working Within an IP-Based Compound, Solving the Ops Puzzle of the Super Bowl of Racing

The Daytona 500 is called The Super Bowl of Racing for a reason. Whether it's the culmination to five days of action on the track, the sheer size and scop...

13/02/2026

OBS Expands AI-Powered Content Workflows

For the Milano Cortina Games, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) is delivering more than 6,500 hours of content, with more than 900 hours of live action, sprea...

13/02/2026

NBC Sports Director Pierre Moossa Previews NBC's First NBA All-Star Production in 24 Years

After a 24-year absence, NBC Sports returns to NBA All-Star Weekend with a full ...

13/02/2026

Film Festival Watch: 18 Sundance Institute-Supported Projects To Watch at the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival

By Jessica Herndon We may have just wrapped an unforgettable 2026 Sundance Film...

13/02/2026

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Amanda Kramer, the Writer-Director Behind By Design

By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fest...

13/02/2026

Women in Podcasting Craft New Connections at Spotify's Galentine's Day Celebration in LA

This Wednesday in Los Angeles, Spotify brought together a group of podcast creat...

13/02/2026

Spotify and LoveShackFancy Bring Galentine's Glam to NYC, Featuring Special Performance by Joshua Basset

Yesterday, Spotify and LoveShackFancy hosted a Galentine's and Gents Lunch a...

13/02/2026

L3Harris Successfully Completes First Phase of P25 Transition for Florida SLERS

The upgrade to a Project 25 network provides state agencies communicating on the Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System flexibility to tailor the network to the...

13/02/2026

Riedel Opens Kuala Lumpur Office to Strengthen Global 24...

Riedel Communications has officially opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, marking a strategic expansion of its global Customer Success and IT software...

13/02/2026

ES Broadcast Hire duo celebrate 10-year anniversary with...

Two of ES Broadcast Hire's longest-serving employees recently celebrated a decade working for the company. Annie Breislin, Operations Manager, and Charles ...

13/02/2026

Disguise Opens Experience Center and Office in Atlanta

Disguise, the award-winning technology company powering global experiences, today unveils a new 8,000-square-foot office and Experience Center in Atlanta, creat...

13/02/2026

Mavis Expands External Camera Support with Accsoon SeeMo...

At BSC Expo 2026, Mavis announced full support for the Accsoon SeeMo series of iOS camera adapters across Mavis Camera and Mavis Monitor apps. This new integrat...

13/02/2026

Butcher Bird Studios Keeps Signals Flowing Seamlessly Acr...

Executing technically ambitious live streams, virtual productions, and immersive media today requires talent, creativity, and the right supporting technology. L...

13/02/2026

LTN makes key appointments and introduces new Technology...

Michal Miskin-Amir, Jonathan Stanton and Bobby Bond to lead technical advances amid surge in demand for LTN's IP video transport services as satellite capac...

13/02/2026

NATO Upgrades Broadcast Studio with Grass Valley Cameras

Grass Valley, the pioneering media and entertainment technology innovator, has won a competitive NATO-wide tender to provide the new camera system for NATO'...

13/02/2026

Digital Azul strengthens remote production strategy with...

Wireless IP intercom underpins agile, multi-location live production workflows Digital Azul, the independent production powerhouse specialising in complex liv...

13/02/2026

Actus Digital Sets a New Standard for QA Monitoring and C...

Actus Digital, a LiveU company, will unveil major new enhancements to its Actus X Intelligent Monitoring Platform at NAB Show (LiveU booth N1740), reinforcing i...

13/02/2026

FA Cup goes IP with Pitch International plus Synamedia an...

Globecast, a worldwide leader in broadcast services, and leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that Pitch International (Pitch), the leadi...

13/02/2026

Rai Selects Imagine Selenio Network Processor for IP Migration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

CIMM Details Research Plans for 2026 and New Board Appointments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Teradek Unveils RF-A Auto Switcher

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Spectrum Launches 'Invincible Wifi'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Actus Digital to Introduce Actus X Platform Enhancements At NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Sennheiser Wireless Spectera Solution Tackles Super Bowl LX With Ease

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

Nate Bargatze to Receive 2026 NAB Television Chairman's Award

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/02/2026

UKTV Highlights Saturday February 14th - Friday February 20th 2026

What can I watch on UKTV this week?What can I stream on U this week? This guide highlights romantic dramas for Valentine's Day, alternative relationship t...

13/02/2026

New RT series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists

New RT series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists Swindlers airs Wednesday 18 February, 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player Swindlers, a...

12/02/2026

Chyron Merges Live Web Content and CG Graphics with PRIME 5.3

Chyron unveils PRIME 5.3, the latest software release of the company's powerful engine for live production graphics. PRIME 5.3 delivers the first official i...

12/02/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Interra Systems' Anupama Anantharaman on Protecting Live Sports Quality Across IP and OTT Workflows

The vendor's VP of Product Management explains how quality assurance, monito...

12/02/2026

LTN Makes Key Appointments and Introduces New Technology Organization

LTN announces the appointment of three experienced executives to lead its new Technology organization: Michal Miskin-Amir as EVP and Head of Technology, Jonatha...

12/02/2026

Riedel Opens Kuala Lumpur Office to Strengthen Global 24/7 Software and IT Support

Riedel Communications has officially opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malays...

12/02/2026

NATO Upgrades Brussels HQ Broadcast Studio with Grass Valley LDX 135 Cameras

Grass Valley has won a competitive NATO-wide tender to provide the new camera system for NATO's main broadcast studio at its Brussels headquarters. The proj...

12/02/2026

Canon Announces Big Game Broadcast Lens Use Data

Canon U.S.A announces that the vast majority of broadcast lenses utilized on the NBC live broadcast for the Big Game between New England and Seattle on Sunday w...

12/02/2026

Three-Time Grammy-Winner Ludacris to Headline Performances at NBA All-Star 2026 in LA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and NBC Sports announce the entertainm...

12/02/2026

IOC Awards Broadcast Rights in Middle East and North Africa to beIN MEDIA GROUP

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announces that beIN MEDIA GROUP ( beIN ), the leading global sports, entertainment and media organisation, has secured...