The Challenge

BBC Sport wanted to pep up their football coverage with innovative 3D analysis visuals. In the past, camera head based systems had met with some success but were hugely expensive to deploy and thus could only cover a limited number of games. They also required an impractical amount of PC hardware to generate the graphics.

What was needed was a system that could work from the video image alone and create visuals quickly and accurately using only a bog standard PC with a high-end graphics card.

The Solution

Working hand-in-glove with our development partners at the BBC, we devised a cunning new image processing algorithm that tracked the lines on the pitch rather than telemetry data from on-camera devices.

Because it utilises the video image alone, Piero is cost effective and versatile. It can show the subtleties of play and tactics from angles that can’t be captured conventionally. And as well as adding a new dimension to other line-based sports such as rugby and tennis, it can reveal the truth behind controversial talking points by analysing archive footage in multiple formats.

The Result

OK, we think it’s good. But you don’t just have to take our word for it. It’s been recognised throughout the industry as a groundbreaking product that really adds to viewers’ enjoyment and understanding of sport. It won both the IBC Innovation Award for Content Creation and the Cable and Satellite International Award for Product of the Year. More importantly it’s been bought and adopted by a host of sportscasters in 20 countries including; ITV Sport, Sky Italia, Al Jazeera, Canal + France, TV Globo and RTE.