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 ...
01/06/2026
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, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
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...
05/03/2026
Clear-Com has provided Gen-IC virtual intercom, its cloud-based voice communications system for SaxaVord Spaceport, the first fully licensed vertical launch s...
05/03/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) concluded the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, convening more than 800 industry leaders, technologists, creatives and executi...
05/03/2026
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of electrical power control solutions for professional audio, video, and lighting systems, today announced that its new Dual DMX ...
05/03/2026
Snicket Labs is pleased to announce a new distribution partnership with ES Broadcast for its award winning solutions, Match and Enrich.
Under the agreement, ES...
05/03/2026
LiveU today announced the first large-scale deployment of its AI-driven LiveU IQ (LIQ ) technology at a global, multi-venue sporting event, setting a new benchm...
04/03/2026
Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the governing body for Italy's premier basketball...
04/03/2026
Wrexham AFC co-chairmen Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds will host a first-of-its-kind ...
04/03/2026
The countdown is underway and with just 100 days to go until the world's greatest sporting event begins on Thurs., June 11, FOX Sports, America's Englis...
04/03/2026
No matter where they are in the world, service members and veterans can stream N...
04/03/2026
Telemundo officially releases Somos M s, the anthem for the network's cove...
04/03/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) concluded the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, convening more than 800 industry leaders, technologists, creatives, and execut...
04/03/2026
Smith Entertainment Group transformed how local sports are consumed by creating ...
04/03/2026
The production method, which spans a distance of 36.2 miles, was designed and im...
04/03/2026
Haivision, a global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and...
04/03/2026
When Hugues Meyrath came out of retirement to take the helm as CEO of Quantum, i...
04/03/2026
Last week's launch of Banana Ball Championship League has spurred a significant upgrade of production facilities
The Savannah Bananas, arguably the hottest...
04/03/2026
sldkfjsdlfkjsldkfjsldkjfslkdjfslkdjfsl
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus...
04/03/2026
For many fans, a song's backstory can be just as compelling as the final pro...
04/03/2026
In 2006, Spotify was founded on the belief that technology could bring artists a...
04/03/2026
Spotify is back on the ground for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and we&#...
04/03/2026
Spotify had an energizing week in Sydney, Australia, filled with powerful conver...
04/03/2026
Earlier this year, we launched Directed By, a documentary-style series that pull...
04/03/2026
100 Days to Go: SBS Unveils World Class Team for The Greatest Show on Earth -The...
04/03/2026
KT and Rohde & Schwarz to showcase AI-enhanced radio transmission performance In a joint 6G AI proof-of-concept demonstration, the CMX500 one-box tester from ...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, 3 March 2026 - SES S.A. has today published its 2025 Annual Report, following the announcement of the company's full year financial results for ...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, March 3, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, along with I...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON Partners with GSMA Innovation Fund to Accelerate Digital Innov...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON's Beeline Uzbekistan and Rakuten Symphony Partner for Open...
04/03/2026
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Sky Sports unveils plans for 2026 Formula 1 coverage
Sky Sports is preparing for one of the most highly anticipated F1 seasons in recen...
04/03/2026
Back to All News
Bloodhounds' Season 2 Gears Up for April 3 Premiere with ...
04/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Ads Suite Expands Capabilities
Business
04 March 2026
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to clipboard
After launching the Netflix Ad...
04/03/2026
Scripps Research welcomes healthcare innovator Joe Kiani to the Board of Directors Kiani brings decades of experience in patient safety and public service.
Mar...
04/03/2026
Nanoparticle vaccine approach takes on a new target: Hepatitis C virus Scripps Research scientists reengineer critical proteins on the surface of HCV, paving th...
03/03/2026
Beyond Sports, a Sony group company, and LIV Golf, the world's golf league, ...
03/03/2026
Ilitch Sports + Entertainment announces the launch of Detroit SportsNet (DSN), a year-round broadcast home for two of Detroit's franchises. With flexible op...
03/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media ...
03/03/2026
The PGA of America, NBC Sports and USA Sports extend their media rights agreemen...
03/03/2026
AI device ecosystem company HONOR enters into a strategic technical collaboratio...
03/03/2026
Cleveland's Telos Alliance, pioneers in broadcast technology for 30 years, l...
03/03/2026
The MD 9235 microphone head for wireless handhelds has been a firm favorite with many engineers and artists for its ability to cut through high on-stage levels ...
03/03/2026
Haivision Systems Inc. (Haivision), a global provider of mission-critical, real-...
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 
