Automating professional TV production for sports

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TiiVii (Automating professional TV production for sports)

Période du rapport: 2021-05-01 au 2022-07-31

95% of European sports club competitions are never seen live by their fans. And even if they are broadcasted they are in such poor quality that fail to attract Sponsors.

By traditional means the Madrid Barca match costs 200K€ to produce. Even a 3rd division game will cost between 2€ and 4K € to be produced with Sponsor grade quality

Our innovation, TiiVii, cuts the cost of a sport event production by 90%. And we do that without compromising on production quality.

The Tiivii project proposes a fully automated professional TV platform that allows any sports club, league or federation to create its scalable OTT offering and also serve traditional broadcasters, social media platforms and pay tv distributors.

Root sport economic health is basic for a modern and healthy society. However, more and more advertising revenues are directed to either premium clubs, or to artificial “extreme” sports or even to the new “unhealthy” e-sports competitions. What is needed is a easy to use system to produce sponsor quality-grade. With Tiivii, clubs and leagues can become the owners of their business model and connect directly with consumers, brands and distributors.

The Tiivii solution also integrates monetisation features, for sponsorship planning, for ad insertion and for direct to consumer monetisation during the events.

The project has created a camera agnostic software solution through a triple-AI-stack that simulates a human production crew operating multi-camera rigs, supporting 8K cameras and implementing 5G network interoperability. Underlying Tiivii video server there is also a 3D cloud engine to apply real time 3D treatment to all video sources.

The Tiivii AI production platform use specific AI algorithms to detect game situations in more than 10 sports and to send orders (zoom in, out, camera change) to the production software as if a human were present.

This report outlines the work carried out during the complete Tiivii project, from 01-05-2020 to 31-07-2022.
The project has created several components, as planned:

Tiivii AI production platform
- AI Operator, and automated systems that simulates a human camera operator
- AI Mixer OP, and automated system that simulates a human producer
- Cloud Mixer and 5G Cloud MIxer
- Admin & orchestration system
- Portable system
- Second coach tool, a software that leverages cameras the used for broadcasting to aid coaches
- 5G integration

Tiivii OTT platform
- OTT platform completely integrated with the automated production. The planning of an event triggers the reception of the event in the OTT platform
- Tiivii interactive player integrated with AI detections
- Tiivii Content manageme system for Federations and Clubs

Tiivii is a system. It is comprised of several full blown modules:
● Core AI & video components
o AI Camop and AI Mixerop, our AI systems, which are able to control remote cameras and make decisions about what camera should be broadcasted. AI Camop drives the cameras and AI Mixerop drives the Cloud Mixer. We have ready the AI systems for handball, basketball, waterpolo, volleyball, soccer, hockey, swimming, hornussen.
o Tiivii Synthetrick, our 3D graphic engine, is deployed elastically and creates video following orders from Tiivii Cloud Mixer and the configuration stored in Admin Tiivii.
● Cloud Mixer
o Tiivii cloud mixer, which performs the production either in AI mode or in Manual mode, using Tiivii cameras, customer cameras, mobile phones or combining all of them. Mics, advertising and compex graphic sets are also supported.
● Admin system
o admin system, who allows customers to configure every detail of an event through a responsive web interface
o orchestration engine, following the configuration defined by the customer, is able to deploy elastic resources, not only in the cloud but also in local servers, to create an automated production
● Portable system
o We have also integrated many new cameras and hardware in the system. We now support a wide range of Axis, Hikvision and Panasonic cameras. We have also prototyped with several 8K models what could be in the near future are our own 8K main automated camera. However, the market have shown us that our future is not in a low quality video portable version but in a high end production using high quality fixed cameras combined, perhaps, from mobile and shoulder-on cameras.
o We have worked hard with leading world camera makers. As a result, we have been the 1st company in Europe (April 2021) to receive brand new a 8k 4-sensor camera we are already integrating into the Tiivii system. We hope that the combination of this type of camera with PTZ and mobile cameras will deliver the best of both worlds to Tiivii: the security of stitching combined with our PTZ/mobile approach.
● 5G integration
o Tiivii has been successfully integrated into the edge servers of a real 5G network, deployed by Telefonica in Spain. From those edge servers we have produced live matches in Riazor Stadium and in the training grounds of Deportivo La Coruña FC. Tiivii 5G Cloud Mixer will be demonstrated at MWC Barcelona 2021 in the Telefonica Stand. We are currently being integrated into Amazon Wavelenght, the 5G edge service of AWS

Tiivii OTT platform
- OTT pipeline
o Fully completed and integrated with the production system.
- Tiivii interactive player
o the Tiivii app is an innovative audio visual app fully integrated with all the details of the Tiivii production. The main innovation is a live player which introduces a interactive panel where to deploy any time of object (notification, AR, 3D, purchase) previously synchronised with specific points of the AI detections, for instance, a goal.
- Tiivii CMS
o The Tiivii CMS allows sport federations to create video apps with all leagues, clubs and matches managed by the federation. Eachfan can have a specific profile where its favourite clubs are instantly published. The CMS support several business modesl for the content and the engagement of users with an integrated gannification engine

- We have the fastest AI detector in sports < 120miliseconds
- Tiivii has several unique features
o Only automated solution to sopport PTZ cameras moving in real time
o Only automated solution perform camera change drive by AI in real time
o Only automated solution that allows human and AI to collaborate in real time in a TV production
- We are the unique solution that allow third parties to connect to our cloud AI and perform a production assietd by AI: this opens the way for a global and scalable platform

Our expected global impact is to create a world platform to produce and distribute live non premium sports. This platform will aggregate algorithms, content, sponsors and fans. Our decentralised algorithm distribution architecture will also allow us to reuse our platform in the smart training arena. Technology centres, sport researchers and start-ups can connect to our installations and deploy new algorithms to help coaches and we will actuate as a AI algorithm catalogue for the advance of sports.

Tiivii AI assisted cloud mixer. It can be managed by AI alone or it allows collaboration between Hum

tiivii productions: notice the zoom in powered by AI

Customised tiivii installations

tiivii productions: notice automated graphics and the framing by AI

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - TiiVii (Automating professional TV production for sports)

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