Fox Sports, Intel To Intro Be the Player 60 POV Replay System at Super Bowl LI

FOX Sports is looking to transport viewers onto the field like never before during its Super Bowl LI coverage next month in Houston. Using Intel technology, the FOX Sports Lab plans to introduce a Be the Player enhancement, a feature that displays a POV perspective from any player on the field without ever having a physical camera attached to the player. The first-of-its kind replay technology will provide viewers a unique field-of-vision perspective from the player's point of view during the play.

CLICK HERE for a in-game demo of the technology during Fox Sports' coverage of the Indiana-Utah college football matchup last year.

Be the Player will leverage the Intel 360 Replay system that has been deployed at a host of major sporting events, including the U.S. Open; MLB All-Star Game; NBA All-Star Game, Conference Finals, and Final, Super Bowl 50, and the Rio Olympics, as well as a multitude of primetime NFL games. The system uses an array of 5K cameras throughout the stadium to create a 3D space that allows replays to spin around the field and zoom in or out of key action during the play.

We tasked Intel to push their amazing Intel 360 Replay technology to the limit of what it could do, using their array of cameras circling the stadium to synthesize a player's view on the field, says Michael Davies, FOX Sports SVP of Field & Technical Operations. The cameras, backed up by a huge bank of Intel computing power, allow a moment to be recreated in 3D space, so that a virtual camera' can be placed at the player's eye line - not unlike how limitless camera views can be created in video games.

According to the Associated Press, Intel has already installed 38 5K resolution cameras in a perimeter inside NRG Stadium connected by five miles of fiber to the Intel control room, which houses half-dozen Intel producers. These producers will work with a Fox Sports producer inside the truck to select 360 replays to be integrated into the telecast. CLICK HERE for an in-depth look at the Intel 360 workflow at last year's MLB All-Star Game in San Diego.

From the beginning, seeing and breaking down the play from the player's point of view is the undiscovered country of sports broadcasting, Davies adds. This broadcast enhancement is like no other - it literally brings the audience down to the viewpoint of the player at the critical decision-making moment. What other choices did he have? Was his sight blocked? It all looks much different from field level, and can assist our announcers in describing what actually happened on the field.

The FOX Sports Super Bowl LI production effort includes more high-speed and 4K cameras than ever before, and will use three production trucks and more than 30 cameras to deliver more than 20 hours of programming a day from Discovery Green in Houston, in addition to 70-plus cameras at NRG Stadium covering the game.

We, as broadcasters, are always trying to provide the viewer with something they've never seen before, says Zac Fields, FOX Sports SVP Graphic Technology and Innovation. With this new Be the Player' technology, it is now achievable and we are incredibly excited to debut this at the Super Bowl on FOX.

FOX Sports Lab, a designed approach to exploring technical partnerships that give viewers a fresh perspective and ad sales teams more targeted sports integrations, had a busy year in 2016, using aerial production drones at the U.S. Open Championship, as well as teaming with a pair of industry leading virtual reality companies to deliver a VR broadcast of more than a dozen major sporting events, including the Daytona 500, a Premier Boxing Champions title fight, the Big East, the U.S. Open Championship, Men's Basketball Tournament, the Bundesliga season opener and multiple college football games, each progressing the rapidly evolving technology. In addition, FOX Sports teamed with GoPro in November to offer a first-ever POV camera from the hat of referees working the Big Ten Championship Game.

Stay tuned to sportsvideo.org in the coming days for more in-depth coverage on this story.

LINK:	http://www.sportsvideo.org/2017/01/12/fox-sports-intel-to-intro-be-the...
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