this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
36 points (95.0% liked)

Mildly Interesting

17699 readers
606 users here now

This is for strictly mildly interesting material. If it's too interesting, it doesn't belong. If it's not interesting, it doesn't belong.

This is obviously an objective criteria, so the mods are always right. Or maybe mildly right? Ahh.. what do we know?

Just post some stuff and don't spam.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

TL;DR: The Australian Open is streaming games for free on YouTube. The catch is that the players, court, and ball are all 3D generated. They and constructed in near-real time using cameras and video tracking software.

The loophole allows the Australian Open to show a version of live events at the tournament on its own channels, despite having sold lucrative exclusive broadcast rights to partners across the globe.

Demonstration video: https://youtu.be/H-TCgvSeYj4

top 6 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Around 15 years ago my brother and I worked on an RFID based limb and ball tracking prototype. The idea would be to allow instant replays of sporting events from any possible angle.

We never got funding to complete the project, and transmission interference was always tricky.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

I was at the airport and there was an NBA game on tv and on another tv were Disney characters playing basketball. It took me a while to realize it was the same game.

As a software developer (previously game developer) I was very impressed with how good the tracking was. Not just position, but complicated moves, dribbling the ball between their legs, facial animations, everything with less than a 10 second lag.

The Disney version was way more fun to watch.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

I like the idea, as I'm not a tennis fan, but the 3d models are too poor quality. It looks like some quick indie project, or as a result of a hackathlon, not something from top class sport event. Or was it only an internal demo, and leaked somehow?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

It might not be great, but it's something. As a life long fan since the Bjorg era, not being able to watch tournaments for years has been kind of deflating.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is kind of awesome. Also, there's an extra * in your link

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Fat fingers. Thank you for catching that.