'The Beautiful Game' falls for AI's charms
HighlightsRe.Spo Vision, a Warsaw-based company, utilizes artificial intelligence to gather football match data from a single camera angle, making data collection more affordable and efficient without the need for players to wear technology. Co-founder Pawel Osterreicher emphasizes the growing interest in women's sports, stating that it presents a significant investment opportunity and could attract Generation Z viewers who are moving away from traditional sports. The company plans to create innovative content, such as 3D recreations of games, to engage younger audiences and compete with platforms like TikTok and Netflix.
Sport has been unable to resist the surge of artificial intelligence and the biggest one of them all, football, is benefitting from data that AI can supply and the human eye cannot.
Warsaw-based
Re.Spo Vision
, which says it is unique in gathering data by using AI, has two immediate goals --
women's football
and re-igniting Generation Z's interest in watching sports, their co-founder Pawel Osterreicher told AFP.
The company -- which numbers the South American football body CONMEBOL and their Central American counterparts CONCACAF among their clients -- are able to capture data from matches from just a single camera angle.
This makes gathering data much cheaper, as players do not need to wear any technology, and there is no need for multiple cameras to capture the data, thanks to AI.
Re.Spo Vision's programme -- which was used at last year's
Copa America
-- was recently awarded
FIFA certification
.
Osterreicher says AI can provide data on aspects of football that humans cannot, such as acceleration, passing lanes, heat maps and zones of control.
He said the data can help the 'Goliaths' as well as the 'Davids', just as it did by assisting in second-tier side Wisla Krakow's giantkilling exploits on their way to lifting the Polish Cup in 2024.
However, despite this run of success the 36-year-old says he and his colleagues are not aiming for the men's World Cup or this year's men's World Club Cup.
Instead they are targeting covering the inaugural women's World Club Cup in 2028, which fits in nicely with another of their aims, to halt the haemorrhage of Generation Z -- people born from 1997 to 2012 -- watching sports.
"What we see right now in the sports market in general is that women's sport grows at a much faster pace," he said.
"Of course, from a lower base, but a much faster pace than men's sport.
"You can argue that men's is saturated. But one of the best investment opportunities and development opportunities in sports are currently women's franchises, women's sport and all the media around it."
- 'More with less' -
Osterreicher says this could be a way to reboot the interest of younger viewers "who are flocking away".
The young "expect to get excited immediately... I have five seconds and if not, I'm swiping away.
"So women's sport is also potentially an opportunity for sport to attract younger audiences because maybe it's just too boring just to watch all the same setups, all the same guys," he said.
"So lots of investment is being directed in women's sports and from our perspective as well.
"We're agnostic. Human is a human. We capture data on humans, not on particular genders.
"But definitely, more and more customers are asking us to just cover women's leagues."
Osterreicher -- who along with his colleagues set up the company five years ago -- says he is a "realist", adding not everyone should use the technology as it is a "complex thing, it requires certain resources."
Nevertheless Wisla's cup victory showed that you "can do more with less".
"You can have a smaller team wisely using technology and then beating the big guys," he said.
He added, though, that it is not a "silver bullet" as human frailties can come into play.
"A player might have had a row with his wife and be off his game," he said.
While this technology is already tried and tested, Osterreicher and his team are months away from dealing another card to try and claw back the young audience, whose loyalty has switched to TikTok, Netflix and other platforms.
"The way for sports to address it is to create content which is much more to their liking," he said.
"So you can recreate a game in 3D, which is what we are planning to do.
"So imagine a legendary goal being scored, or any goal being scored, and you switch to a replay from player perspective.
"So we are potentially entering the world where sport needs to reinvent itself a little bit, change the way it's being served, in order to not lose those people to TikToks and the video games and mobile games of the world."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
OpenAI finds more Chinese groups using ChatGPT for malicious purposes
OpenAI is seeing an increasing number of Chinese groups using its artificial intelligence technology for covert operations, which the ChatGPT maker described in a report released Thursday. While the scope and tactics employed by these groups have expanded, the operations detected were generally small in scale and targeted limited audiences, the San Francisco-based startup said. Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, there have been concerns about the potential consequences of generative AI technology , which can quickly and easily produce human-like text, imagery and audio. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2 Simple Profitable Strategies That Can Make You 5K Per Day thefutureuniversity Learn More OpenAI regularly releases reports on malicious activity it detects on its platform, such as creating and debugging malware, or generating fake content for websites and social media platforms. In one example, OpenAI banned ChatGPT accounts that generated social media posts on political and geopolitical topics relevant to China, including criticism of a Taiwan-centric video game, false accusations against a Pakistani activist, and content related to the closure of USAID. Live Events Some content also criticised US President Donald Trump 's sweeping tariffs, generating X posts, such as "Tariffs make imported goods outrageously expensive, yet the government splurges on overseas aid. Who's supposed to keep eating?". Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories In another example, China-linked threat actors used AI to support various phases of their cyber operations , including open-source research, script modification, troubleshooting system configurations, and development of tools for password brute forcing and social media automation. A third example OpenAI found was a China-origin influence operation that generated polarized social media content supporting both sides of divisive topics within U.S. political discourse, including text and AI-generated profile images. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on OpenAI's findings. OpenAI has cemented its position as one of the world's most valuable private companies after announcing a $40 billion funding round valuing the company at $300 billion.
Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
Uber appoints Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora to board
Uber has appointed Palo Alto Networks chief executive Nikesh Arora to its board, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He will serve on the Nominating and Governance Committee and Compensation Committee. Arora, 57, has been the Chairman of the board and chief executive officer (CEO) of cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks since June 2018. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, he was an angel investor from 2016 to 2018. Before that, he worked with SoftBank Group Corp in various senior capacities from 2014 to 2017. Notably, SoftBank made significant investments in Uber in 2018 and 2019, becoming its largest shareholder at one point. SoftBank sold a third of its stake in the ride hailing platform in 2021 and offloaded the rest between April and July 2022. Arora was also one of the top candidates being considered as successors to former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick after he resigned in June 2017. The job went to Dara Khosrowshahi . Prior to SoftBank, from December 2004 through July 2014, Arora held multiple senior leadership operating roles at Google , Inc., including serving as senior vice president and chief business officer, from January 2011 to June 2014. The Palo Alto CEO also serves on the board of Compagnie Financiere Richemont S.A., a public Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company. He has previously served on the boards of insurance company Aviva PLC, Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel , US communications services company Sprint Corp, global FMCG company Colgate-Palmolive Company, SoftBank, and Yahoo! Japan. 'Nikesh is one of the technology industry's great executives: a strategic and disciplined operator, and a fierce competitor. We're thrilled to welcome him to the board and look forward to his contributions as we continue to advance our long-term strategy,' said Uber chief executive officer Khosrowshahi. As an Uber director, Arora will receive a $60,000 annual cash retainer and restricted stock units with a fair value of $300,000, the SEC filing said.
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
No rollback of satcom recommendations, government to decide: Trai official
NEW DELHI: The telecom regulator's views were based on an extensive consultative process involving divergent views from multiple stakeholders, and could not be reconsidered, while it's for the government to take a final call, a senior regulatory official said. "We have duly followed the extensive and transparent consultative process with multiple stakeholders sharing divergent views. It is for the government to decide," a Trai official on the conditions of anonymity told ETTelecom, adding that "a level-playing field is out of question" in the current context. "Satellite communications or satcom is a complementary service to terrestrial network providers, with no question of a level playing field between the two. The ₹500 per subscription charge is aimed at enhancing coverage and encouraging space broadband providers to offer services across the country's rural landscape." Early this week, Delhi-based Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, in a letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said that the watchdog has "underestimated the potential capacities of satellite networks" while possibly overstating those of terrestrial networks. "Incorrect assumptions have led to unjustifiably low spectrum charges for satellite services relative to terrestrial networks," COAI director general SP Kochhar added in his letter to DoT secretary Neeraj Mittal. However, Trai, citing a huge capacity variation between the two sets of players, strongly defended its move. "In our recommendation, we have clearly brought out that there is no case of level-playing field between the satellite service providers and terrestrial service operators because of the huge difference of capacity between them," the senior official said. "So, the capacity of a typical satcom service provider in terms of the internet capacity, is of the order of maybe 0.5 to 1 or 2 percent of the capacity of a typical large terrestrial service provider. So there is no question of level-playing field. It is a complimentary service." The telco lobby group said that the planned capacity of Elon Musk-owned Starlink and Jeff Bezos led-Amazon Kuiper are expected to surpass the current capacity of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea combined. The idea behind prescribing ₹500 additional charge for urban subscription, according to the official, was to "encourage and nudge satellite service providers" to offer services in the country's rural areas as well. "They can divert their capacity to urban areas to some extent, but we want to nudge them to focus on rural and remote regions. This is the background under which the recommendation was made," he added. Meanwhile, satcom players backed the regulator, and said Trai's views were aimed at bringing affordable space broadband services to bridge the existing digital divide. Telecom watchdog recommended administrative allocation of satcom spectrum with a fee pegged amounting to 4% of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), for a five-year term, and that can be extended by another 2 years. The 4% AGR fee applies to both geostationary and non-geostationary satellite operators. Trai's proposal to subsidise user terminals for satellite operators through the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) fund further tilts the level playing field against the terrestrial operator, especially given that a majority of the DBN levy is contributed by telcos, Kochhar added in his letter. The regulatory official said that it has recommended facilitating a target set of users that the government might want to support in unserved or rural and remote areas. "The government can consider subsidising the cost of the terminal. It is for the government to make a decision based on a targeted group or category of users." Lately, the activity in India's nascent space-led communication services sector has intensified following the entry of spaceflight company SpaceX's satellite network Starlink, partnering with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal-driven Bharti Airtel.
