Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 20, 2024 – In a groundbreaking collaboration, Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, has teamed up with Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) to test its state-of-the-art AI-enhanced multi-camera replay service. The innovative service was showcased at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai, held from May 16 to 19, determining the athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris (“Paris 2024”).
Selina Yuan, President of International Business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, expressed her excitement about the partnership, stating, “We are thrilled to collaborate with OBS to expand the use of our cutting-edge cloud-based AI technology, aiming to elevate sports broadcasting to new levels of immersion and engagement. As a pioneer in delivering intelligent sports solutions, we aim to work with OBS to redefine how global sports enthusiasts experience and engage with the Olympic Games. We look forward to further contributing to the Paris 2024 experience with our advanced cloud technologies.”
This AI innovation is set to be deployed across various competition venues during Paris 2024, promising a dynamic and vivid viewing experience for audiences worldwide. The cloud-based multi-camera replay system introduces a revolutionary way to view the Olympic Games from multiple angles. Leveraging machine learning and deep neural networks, the system, powered by Alibaba Cloud’s resilient infrastructure, reconstructs competition scenes in sophisticated detail, offering viewers a compelling engagement experience.
Also Read: John Kelly Joins Remote as Chief Revenue Officer to Drive Global Revenue Growth
The system utilizes specialized video processing within both edge and cloud environments. Footage captured from strategically positioned cameras around the venues is transformed into cloud-based 3D models with high-quality textures. This enables the creation of virtual frames from new viewpoints, making actions such as rotation smoother and more realistic, thus providing an immersive and cohesive 3D reconstruction of competition scenes.
Alibaba Cloud’s powerful computing architecture and proven cloud technologies facilitate the near real-time processing of high-precision 3D reconstruction and video rendering. During Paris 2024, the AI-enabled replay system will be implemented at 12 competition venues for events including beach volleyball, tennis, judo, and rugby. The multi-angle video content will be made available through OBS’s production system, enriching Olympic Games coverage through cloud broadcasting with dynamic and lifelike replay footage for global Media Rights Holders (MRH).
Initially introduced at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 for curling and speed skating events, the multi-camera replay system allowed fans to experience critical competition moments from a variety of optimal angles. With more AI features and deployment at more competition scenes, this innovation is set to elevate the broadcast of the Olympic Games to unprecedented levels.
As the official cloud service provider for the International Olympic Committee, Alibaba Cloud continues to lead broadcasting innovation. By expanding Games coverage through inventive and inclusive technologies, Alibaba Cloud aims to redefine the future of sports viewing experiences in collaboration with partners like OBS.
About Alibaba Cloud
Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com) is the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. It offers a complete suite of cloud services to customers worldwide, including elastic computing, database, storage, network virtualization services, large-scale computing, security, big data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) services. Alibaba has been named the leading IaaS provider in Asia Pacific by revenue in U.S. dollars since 2018, according to Gartner. It has also maintained its position as one of the world’s leading public cloud IaaS service providers since 2018, according to IDC.
