
Live From NCAA Men's Final Four: CBS Sports Debuts Live Camera Worn by Players at NABC College All-Star Game It's the first live implementation of body-camera technology developed by MindFly By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Monday, April 8, 2024 - 2:18 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
One of the chief aspirations for live sports broadcasts is to get viewers as close to the action as possible. How much closer can one get than having the actual vantage point of a player in action?
CBS Sports took a swing at delivering a live view of a player via a body-camera system during Friday night's NABC College All-Star Game on Friday night, an event hosted as part of NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four festivities.
University of Akron basketball player Enrique Freeman is outfitted with MindFly's body-camera system prior to CBS Sports Network's live broadcast of the NABC College All-Star Game in Glendale, AZ, on Friday.
Developed by MindFly, the AI BodyCam solution has been deployed various times across Europe but only as a postproduction tool and only during prematch warmups and other non-game activities. This deployment marks the first time the company was able to trial out a version delivering a feed that could be taken live by a game director.
We know that this has been done on skills challenges; referees have worn it, said Jason Cohen, SVP, remote technical operations, CBS Sports, prior to the game, but a player's point of view when he is bringing the ball up the court, when he's taking free throws, when he's dunking the basketball, I think, could be a holy grail of camera point of view. What we're most excited about is experimenting with it not only as a replay tool, which is the obvious safe way to give yourself a unique perspective. We're going to go to it live. We're going to cut to this camera as a live camera and challenge [it] with things like video quality, latency, and image stabilization.
Let s take you closer to the action with Court Cam! pic.twitter.com/eLSM670gFr
CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) April 6, 2024
With a huge operational effort onsite in Glendale, AZ, for the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four and the National Championship Game, CBS Sports took the opportunity to first use the system on the College All-Star Game when two players - Eastern Kentucky University's Isaiah Cozart and University of Akron's Enrique Freeman - agreed to wear the camera during the game.
I think this is going to be an unbelievable camera angle that has never been tried and done before, said Cohen. It's going to open a lot of doors down the road for different sports around the country to try this vantage point.
Most critical to the success of the system were image quality (it delivers 1080p) and image stabilization, along with a safe, lightweight, unobtrusive vest that players can wear without its interfering with their play.
We spent more than a year making sure it was super-comfortable, super-wearable, and light and had a small footprint and great stabilization, said Bhaskar Mani, chief strategy officer, MindFly. I think that's the key difference between this and anything that has come before.
Eastern Kentucky University basketball player Isaiah Cozart was one of two players to wear MindFly's body-camera system during CBS Sports Network's live broadcast of the NABC College All-Star Game.
Cohen and his team met with MindFly execs a couple of years ago and began a relationship that led to this activation: We had good conversations about where this could go, but we challenged MindFly. As great as the concept in having a player-point-of-view camera inside the chest harness, what's most important about this system, quite frankly, is going to be - besides video quality and stabilization - that it has a live component.
To their credit, he continued, they respectfully took the feedback and came back this year. From there, we thought about a best application where it might be able to fit into one of our properties.
In a similar deployment two years ago, a player wore the MindFly system during a Euroleague basketball game. Those shots, however, were used only after the fact on the league's social channels. Additionally, MindFly has deployed its system a few times in European football, including for the English Premier League and Italy's top-flight Serie A. The company has also worked with Major League Soccer here in the U.S.
In this newest version of MindFly's BodyCam system, image stabilization is assisted through artificial intelligence. Our AI-based processing that we are performing on the video itself to achieve the stabilization is unique because we are capturing a larger field of view, explained Yehuda Elmaliach, co-founder /CTO, Mindfly. The ability to crop to the right place in real time, not for postproduction editing but for live is a major achievement. This is where we are focusing our efforts in terms of live AI-based processing.
As the technology continues to evolve, CBS Sports is seeking new places to deploy it. Bringing the viewers and the fans closer to the action has always been a goal, noted Cohen. How do you make the experience more intimate, [enabling] fans to go somewhere they've never been able to go before? Whether that's cameras embedded in pylons or on referees' hats or so on, the driving motivation has been the same: get us closer and closer to the action.
I think what we're going to see, which we're equally as excited about, he continued, is not just what we can do with it in this particular game but what doors it unlocks for other events.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
01/09/2026
Bridge Technologies will announce at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71) that its VB440 produc...
01/09/2026
DAZN has announced an agreement to acquire EverPass Media, a commercial sports distribution platform serving bars, restaurants, hotels, and other venues in the ...
01/09/2026
The USTA and Kalshi have announced a multi-year partnership making Kalshi the Official Prediction Market Partner of the US Open, beginning with the 2026 US Open...
01/09/2026
MASV will exhibit at IBC2026 (Booth 5.B40, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14). CTO Majed Alhajry will appear on a panel session, A Tale of Two Feeds: Automation o...
01/09/2026
FingerWorks Telestrators has announced a partnership with Broadcast Rental to ex...
01/09/2026
FOR-A has announced the expansion of viztrick AiDi into two dedicated products: Go Vertical! AiDi and AiDi Sports Hub. Developed by Nippon TV and delivered glob...
01/09/2026
Sony Pictures Television has launched Live TV on PS5, a free ad-supported streaming experience available to PS5 players in the United States. The service is acc...
01/09/2026
Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin has installed a Riedel production infrastructure spanning video, intercom, control, and I/O across the venue, implemented in col...
01/09/2026
Arkona technologies GmbH has announced an OEM partnership with BFE Studio und Medien Systeme GmbH to offer arkona-branded control panels for its SDI-IP routing ...
01/09/2026
Cricket Australia has launched Cricket TV, a direct-to-consumer streaming service built on Eluvio's Content Fabric platform. The service is currently in ear...
01/09/2026
Eluvio has announced it was selected to power Pasifika , a new direct-to-consume...
01/09/2026
Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media workflow platform Streamcake, has appointed Jon Marquard as Director and Chairperson. The appointment marks ...
01/09/2026
Gravity Media has announced a multi-year renewal of its agreement with Stawell Gift Event Management to produce the complete broadcast of the Powercor Stawell G...
01/09/2026
Beam Dynamics will exhibit at IBC2026 for the first time (Stand 14.FT29, Hall 14), introducing License Intelligence, a new module for managing software licenses...
01/09/2026
Interra Systems has announced that ZOO Digital has selected BATON for file-based quality control across its media workflows. ZOO Digital delivers localized ente...
01/09/2026
Bridge Technologies has announced the deployment of its VB330 monitoring probe at Sunrise, supporting the Swiss telecommunications provider's IP-based telev...
01/09/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the continued expansion of its managed coach communications partnership with Scottish Rugby Union, now entering its third se...
01/09/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
01/09/2026
SMPTE today detailed the centerpiece of its IBC2026 program: the SMPTE Roadshow: Future of Media Infrastructure, a full-day workshop on Monday, 14 September, th...
01/09/2026
Inside the Music and Sound of Michael
Sound Particles have announced an upcoming webinar with John Warhurst, the Academy Award- and BAFTA-winning supervisin...
01/09/2026
Piano offers tutorials, lessons & feedback via app
Roland have just launched a new digital piano that integrates with a mobile app in an effort to encourage...
01/09/2026
Update introduces 7.1.4 support via Dante
Trinnov have just announced a software update that will allow Nova units with eight licensed Optimizer channels to...
01/09/2026
SBS secures exclusive rights to FIFA World Cup 2030
1 September, 2026
Media releases
Major sports rights deal ensures all Australians will be able to view...
01/09/2026
SBS announces the launch of outcomes-based measurement across its network
1 September, 2026
Media releases
New offer sees national broadcaster put outcomes...
01/09/2026
Revealed: The Booster Economy' how $140bn+ in everyday inheritances'...
01/09/2026
SBS census explorer to provide new insights into contemporary Australia
1 September, 2026
Media releases
The 2026 Census Explorer will give marketers new i...
01/09/2026
SBS and oOh!media launch exclusive SBS News content partnership across office, a...
01/09/2026
SBS offers marketers greater reach with extension into outdoor, creator economy ...
01/09/2026
SBS and The Guardian join forces to supersize sustainability challenge for 2027
1 September, 2026
Media releases
SBS Media and Guardian Australia have join...
01/09/2026
SBS goes deeper in 2027 with provocative Australian documentaries, star-studded ...
01/09/2026
Amazon MGM Studios have commissioned a new thrilling 6-part drama, Crouch End, b...
01/09/2026
New York August 31, 2026 Nielsen is announcing four new local methodology enhancements that will be activated into Local TV currency data starting today, Au...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/09/2026
Pronology, a developer of cutting-edge broadcast workflow solutions, showcases the newest capabilities for its StreamFile Core platform at the 2026 IBC Show (S...
01/09/2026
PROTON Unveils Next-Generation FLEXY Camera at IBC 2026
Brie Clayton September 1, 2026
0 Comments
10-metre serialised coax unlocks new perspectives an...
01/09/2026
Hulu Drama The Season Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton September 1, 2026
0 Comments
Senior Colorist Mark Kueper of Picture Shop crafts ...
01/09/2026
Pluxbox Launches CoreOC to Transform Mission-Critical Media Operations
Brie Clayton September 1, 2026
0 Comments
A vendor-agnostic operational control l...
01/09/2026
Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media workflow platform Streamcake, today announced the appointment of Jon Marquard as Director and Chairperson. T...
01/09/2026
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, will unveil the next generation of its Actus X platform at IBC2026 on LiveUs Stand 7.C24, demonstrating how broadcasters can sim...
01/09/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, delivered transformational technology a...
01/09/2026
Quortex, the intelligent video technology company carved out from Synamedia by Lumine Group, today announced that Odisha Television Network (OTV), the leading r...