Tennis fans can now take control of how they watch matches from the French Open, ahead of the finale this weekend.
Mojjo, a Paris-based startup, uses technology which summarizes tennis matches and is enabling fans to watch the best action from the matches played at the tournament from a website that is publicly available.
It uses a HD camera to monitor a game and its technology, developed by one of the founders, Emmanuel Witvoet, is underpinned by an algorithm which cuts out all the breaks within a tennis game from the video content. This algorithm is able to detect the movement of the ball and also players and the lines on the court to understand what has happened in a game. The technology has analyzed over 20,000 amateur matches to date to try to make it more intelligent. In addition to this, it is also able to capture in-game data from the players focusing on their serves, returns, breakpoints and distance covered over a full match.
From there, it is able to condense a game into four specific video packages. Fans can either watch a full summary of the game with all breaks removed, or a 10-minute, five-minute or two-minute package piece of the match. These shorter package pieces still include commentary and crowd noise too.
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For this partnership it has teamed up with the tournament organizers — the French Tennis Federation and a broadcaster, France Télévision. And as part of the partnership, France Télévision is generating advertising revenue through its TV catch-up platform, called France.tv. This builds on Mojjo’s efforts from last year, which showcased similar replay technology, but with a different interface for fans to navigate.
Founded in 2013, the company had primarily aimed its product at tennis clubs around Europe. However, it is now increasingly moving into the professional game, calling this product offering Mojjo ProTour.
The product aimed at amateur tennis clubs works through, what the makers are calling an “interactive kiosk,” which is a physical piece machine which is placed at the middle of the tennis court where the net is. This kiosk has a touchscreen computer built into it, along with an aluminum mast which is 19 foot high and has a HD camera attached to the top. However, on the professional circuit, and the French Open, this camera is much higher and instead in the broadcasting area.
One of the investors in Mojjo is retired French tennis player Fabrice Santoro, who has represented his country in the Davis Cup. He said of the company: “The key to an innovation is simplicity and I believe mojjo has what it takes to revolutionize tennis, from amateur to pro level.”
It has been reported that Mojjo has raised $560,000 to date and and is seeking to raise more money to support an international expansion.
Découvrez comment ça se passe en régie #RolandGarros
@tennismojjo propose une nouvelle façon de regarder #RG17
https://t.co/m3tMGTRxdm pic.twitter.com/le6uxzQIz9
— mojjo (@tennismojjo) June 9, 2017