Vizrt Demonstrates Story-Aware Graphics With Story Object Model Open Standard

Vizrt has built a proof-of-concept integration with the Story Object Model (SOM), shown at IBC 2026 in Amsterdam as part of the Smart Stories Accelerator project. Vizrt was the project's graphics partner. The integration was delivered in Viz Arc, its augmented reality (AR) control system, and the related graphics were designed and shown in Viz Artist and Viz Engine, its real-time 3D graphics rendering and compositing engine.

SOM addresses a gap in live production: rundown systems, media asset management and graphics each hold fragments of the same story without a shared understanding of its editorial meaning. SOM gives every tool in the chain, including AI agents, the same live account of what a story is about, what is happening and what has been confirmed or held. SOM 1.0 is free to implement, with no membership or permission needed.

Smart Stories was an IBC Accelerator 2026 Incubator project. Its Hurricane demonstration followed a breaking news story from end to end across a story context bus. The story is live from the first wire alert, before any footage exists, and every connected tool subscribes to it. When something changes, a person confirms it once, and the change is propagated to every connected system. Each output then responds in a way suited to it: automatically, waiting for an operator, or by triggering an alert for a human decision.

The specification's authors are Jon Roberts, Morag McIntosh, Alex Bassett and John Boucklos. Roberts, McIntosh and Bassett conceived the model and led the project alongside Brian Hopman of AP. The project had 14 champions, including ITN, the BBC, NBCUniversal, AP, Reuters, Sky, ITV, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, the EBU and SMPTE, and Vizrt was one of 17 participants. Google Cloud was title sponsor, and Amazon Web Services provided the reference bus and media store.

Systems have long shared the rundown and the media. For the first time, the story itself becomes a first-class object they can subscribe to, with its editorial state, lifecycle, compliance position, sources and relationships to other stories, says Jon Roberts, CTO, ITN, co-author of the Story Object Model. That means every tool that speaks SOM works from the same story, updated the moment it changes. Confirm a figure once and the ticker can follow. Hold a fact on legal advice and the graphic carrying it knows before anyone puts it to air.

Open standards are essential in solving common industry challenges. The SOM project is a great example of how collaboration leads to innovative solutions for production professionals across the board, and through participation in the project, Vizrt is extending its ecosystem, while keeping interoperability and security as priorities, says Caroline Cardozo, VP Product Management, Vizrt.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/11/10/vizrt-demonstrates-story-aware-...
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