NBC Sports Tracks Your Favorite Athletes in Real-Time
▼ Summary
– NBC Sports is introducing a new AI-powered player tracking system, called viztrick AiDi, for its mobile viewers starting this year.
– The system, developed by Japan’s Nippon Television Network, is being used by another broadcaster for the first time.
– It uses facial recognition to identify players and allows operators to simply tap an onscreen athlete to follow them.
– NBC Sports will use it to deliver custom, vertical-format content on mobile devices, letting fans focus on specific players.
– The feature will be available in the NBC Sports app, though its specific debut events are not yet known.
NBC Sports is launching a new, AI-driven feature that will transform how fans watch live events on their phones, allowing them to follow specific athletes in real-time. This innovative system, developed by Japan’s Nippon Television Network, marks the first time the technology will be used outside its home country. Starting this year, viewers using the NBC Sports mobile app will have a unique choice: watch the traditional horizontal broadcast or switch to a personalized, vertical feed focused solely on a chosen player.
The core of this experience is the viztrick AiDi system. It employs advanced facial recognition to instantly identify and track individual athletes during a game or competition. The interface is remarkably simple for production staff; an operator just taps on a player on screen to initiate tracking. While Nippon TV has used the technology to display name and stat overlays, NBC Sports is adapting it for a mobile-first audience. The system can automatically isolate footage of a tracked athlete, cropping it from the standard broadcast into a vertical format perfectly suited for smartphone screens.
This means fans won’t miss a moment of their favorite player’s performance, even when on the go. The feature promises to deliver a custom stream of content, putting the viewer in direct control of their perspective. Although the specific events offering the feature this year haven’t been announced, the broadcaster has confirmed plans to utilize the technology for its coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano and Cortina. This move represents a significant step toward more interactive and personalized sports broadcasting, directly catering to the habits of modern mobile viewers.
(Source: The Verge)