The Autonomous Broadcast Network by R/GA
With two unmanned cameras and sensors in both the ball and players’ shoes, The Autonomous Broadcast Network makes professional-level sports broadcasting and data available to all basketball teams, whatever their level. This project is Best in Book – Craft & technical innovation in The Annual 2018
How many high school basketball players have ever wished that their games could be broadcast like a professional match? Well with the Autonomous Broadcast Network this may now be possible.
The project originated as part of the ‘Dodgers Accelerator’ programme, which is run by the LA Dodgers and R/GA and aims to support new companies and start-ups that are working with innovative technologies in the sports and entertainment space. Two of the companies on the 2016 version of the programme – ShotTracker, a provider of automatic real-time performance data for teams, and Keemotion, a leader in automated video – came together to create the Autonomous Broadcast Network.
The ABN, as its name suggests, replaces the 15 or so cameras and over ten members of staff that are usually used to cover a game with an automated system, consisting of two small, unmanned Keemotion cameras. The cameras are then directed by customised algorithms that analyse player movement to determine where the cameras should focus and how to frame the action in a match.
To capture the stats, the players wear shoe sensors and play with a ShotTracker-enabled ball, plus information is also gleaned from sensors that are placed around the court.
The technology was trialled during the 31 games that took place over six days at the 80th National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I Men’s National Championship Basketball Tournament. Automatic real-time analytics and high-definition video were served to coaches, players, and fans throughout the tournament, and the games were all streamed live on Fox Sports. Because the game data and analytics were delivered live, coaches could actually make adjustments to the teams based on the information, during the match.
“It was both successful and unprecedented,” says R/GA of the project, “marking the first time that unmanned technology was used in a tournament to gather player analytics and video, and serve it in high-definition to coaches, players and fans alike.
“The engagement was incredibly well received by both the press, the tech community, and the athletic community,” says the agency of the response to the project. “SportTechie wrote that it made ‘player tracking history’, while the MIT Sloan Sports Conference called it ‘a peek into the future’ and Adweek called it a project ‘at the pinnacle of US brand innovation’. It was also a monumental moment for fans, providing them with real-time player data and statistics that had never been available to NAIA fans.”
As to what the future holds for the project, Keemotion founder Milton Lee says, “as more media companies learn about the pilot, The Autonomous Broadcast Network is starting to catch on as the next frontier in interactive media production”. Keemotion and ShotTracker have been working together on a number of opportunities both internationally and in the US, and a number of ‘Power-5’ college football teams (composed of teams at the highest level) have already adopted the broadcast solution for their practices in order to monitor performance
View all the winning work from The Annual 2018 here.
Entrant: R/GA For ShotTracker: Co-Founder, COO: Davyeon Ross. Co-Founder, CEO: Bruce Ianni. CTO: Clint Kahler. CMO: Lori Gery. Product/Engineering: James Flexman, John Glenn, Hall Hoffman, Michael Maziarz, Tom Keeley, Anderson Homer. Design: Anynn Nease. For Keemotion: CEO: Milton Lee. COO: Alexandre Bustamante. CTO: Damien Delannay. Product/Engineering: Damien Leroy, Gabriel Van Zandycke, Cedric Verleysen, Pascaline Parisot, Vicente Fernandez. Design/Marketing: Colin Cunningham, Alexis Elder. Executive Management, R/GA Ventures: Stephen Plumlee, Jonathan Bradley, Scott Dudleson, Dylan Boyd. Executive Management, LA Dodgers: Tucker Kain, Cole Van Nice, Royce Cohen. For R/GA: Production: Nicolas Olivieri, Liz David, Brenna Vickrey, Annie Hough, Mary Alberque, Gabriella Serrato. Strategy: Sarah Murphy. Social Strategy: Kyle Bunch. Managing Director, Marketing Innovation: Dan Kashman. Creative Lead: Kalle Hellzen, Paul Torres. Management, Fox: Clarke Pierce, Peter Murphy, Devin Poolman, Will Aycock. Management, Intel: Rich Green, Nadia Banks, John Vincent. Management, NAIA: Marc Boerigter, Michael Brooks, Jim Carr, Lori Thomas.
