Recent developments in an array of enabling technologies has conditioned a new consumer market which is never separated from social media or indeed the internet. To fully engage an audience with this level of integration with technology takes more than conventional broadcast strategies. The defining platform for this level of engagement is the SmartStadium.
A SmartStadium is sports venue which is equipped with cutting edge integrated technologies to enable a meshed data network that delivers the right data at the right time to the right consumers in the most suitable format for their requirements. It rolls up the traditional broadcast technologies and presents them in a clean, sharp and instantaneous fashion. The SmartStadium is the future of sports media – at the ground, on the Internet and over the airwaves.
Taking Advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT)
The IoT in a sporting environment is a complex system of always-connected cameras, sensors, devices and other data generating systems which are attached and broadcasting to both private and public networks. A SmartStadium approach, within an IoT framework, brings all of these systems together with HD Wi-Fi or 4G/LTE connectivity and with content which is then being served out to a plethora of users or user groups for a variety of purposes including coaching, injury management or prevention, officiating, broadcast and fan consumption.
The various subsystems within a SmartStadium deployment lend themselves to fully autonomous modes of operation, including generating premium content for a variety of broadcast methods. The fusion of high and ultra-high definition video, video-based analytics, athlete-worn sensors, and equipment embedded sensors can now create a rather compelling real time proposition at a fraction of the cost of conventional broadcast. The key challenges here are in the sophisticated approach to managing high density network requirements as well as complex real-time computation and storage requirements of multiple events in parallel.
Challenges that can be met through holistic IoT design strategies.
Helping Sports Monetise
For sporting competitions and teams that aren’t covered by primary broadcast rights, the SmartStadium give them the ability to stream their event without a broadcast van with millions of dollars worth of equipment, and does this through customised fan engagement apps featuring user selectable video angles, multiple angle playback, fused with real-time sensor data such as position, speed, acceleration, heart rate, impact, or video based analytics data such as position, speed, acceleration, reaction-time etc.
The video, analytics and sensory data is content that can be very effectively monetised, especially with the passionate fan base that most sporting codes enjoy. The intrinsic value that can be created by an effective deployment of a SmartStadium concept can yield significant returns in terms of premium content at the venue itself or webcast over the internet. The immense value of this is something teams and sporting codes need to give careful consideration to when negotiating or renegotiating their broadcast, second screen and digital rights.
Enriching the Experience of Sports Fans
For the sports fan, SmartStadiums delivers an advanced “lounge room” experience inside the stadium and a breathtaking “stadium” experience in lounge rooms through immersive experiences delivered through Augmented Reality frameworks bolstered by video and sensory data fusion. SmartStadiums in an IoT context allows for user customisable content to the extent where a fan can request his or her favourite player to be autonomously followed throughout the course of the match with live metrics, historical stats and video available at their fingertips.
iOn Sport
iOn Sport is an Australian based technology company that has developed a SmartStadium solution which can be deployed at major stadiums, tracks, golf courses, schools, colleges and other community-based sporting facilities. iOn Sport is partnering with Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) to leverage their cutting edge processing, storage and hosting framework.
At the NAB Show, currently ongoing in Las Vegas 13-16 April, iOn Sport also unveiled its SmartBat where an embedded sensor, captures metrics such as bat speed, bat angle, bat rotation and ball speed, amongst others. iOn Sport is the technology partner of the Women’s International Cricket League which will feature the SmartBat technology.
This data is fused with multiple live UltraHD feeds in real time and can be presented to the athlete for training purposes, the coaching staff for play by play breakdown and review, or integrated into the live broadcast on game day to elevate the fan experience.