Intel has signed an agreement to acquire Replay Technologies, a company that developed "FreeD technology," which provides an immersive,3D look at live game broadcasts in sports.
In a2013 interview with Vision Systems Design, to Matteo Shapira, chief technology officer and co-founder of Replay Technologies, said that "FreeD technology," works by capturing images not just as a 2D or a stereoscopic representation, but as a true 3D scene, comprised of three dimensional "pixels" that faithfully represent the fine details of the scene. This information is stored as a freeD database, which can then be tapped to produce any desired viewing angle from the detailed information.
Arecent application of the technology was at Super Bowl 50 (pictured above), where 36 industrial cameras from JAI, along with propriety algorithms, were used at Levi’s Stadium to provide the “free dimensional video” replay capabilities, which captures true 3D scenes that can be tapped to produce any desired viewing angle.
Additionally, the system was used for NBA All-Star Weekend, according to an Intel blog post. For this system, 28 cameras positioned around the arena were connected to Intel-based servers to create 3D video rendering of the court, providing 360° views of the action.
"Together," wrote Wendell Brooks, senior vice president of Intel Corporation and president of Intel Capital, "we will scale this new category for sports entertainment that we call immersive sports, which is attracting the attention of leagues, venues, broadcasters and fans."
He added, "Immersive sports requires the high-performance computing Intel is known for, and it’s also data driven – fueling the continued build out of the cloud. For athletes, coaches, broadcasters and fans, the ability to capture, analyze and share data adds compelling new dimensions to the game."
As part of the Intel team, Replay Technologies will focus on growing their existing business and advancing their technology with Intel to deliver faster freeD processing, and new features such as the ability to manipulate and edit personalized content.
In the 2013 article, Shapira noted that in addition to sports that "the ultimate application of the technology is to replace what we know as the photographic and moving image medium. Think Star Trek holo-deck or Minority Report’s holo-memories."
By enabling photography to move from two dimensional to 2D to true 3D representation, we will experience whole new forms of media experiences in the future, according to Shapira.
"Just as it is hard to recollect how difficult it was 20 years ago to mitigate moving and still images between us, in comparison to our current digital high speed world; once the moving image becomes a true 3D representation, the next level of experiences may be enabled,"he said.
View theIntel blog post.
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