Sky Deutschland has partnered with augmented reality technology firm Ncam to bring AR graphics to Sky’s live coverage of the German Bundesliga football league during the 2017-2018 season, the companies announced.
Ncam’s real-time tracking technology has a small sensor attached to cameras, which generates a constant stream of information that’s fed into Sky Deutschland’s Vizrt graphics engine. Sky then overlays that info on its live feed, adding an extra layer of visual information.
“We really appreciate Ncam’s strong interface with our Vizrt graphics environment and its easy integration into our graphics workflow,” said Alessandro Reitano, VP of sports production for Sky Deutschland, in a statement. “We can now use the Ncam system not only on Steadicam, but on other types of camera systems, which retains the same level of workflow integration.
“We were the first German TV broadcaster covering the Bundesliga to use Ncam on a Steadicam mount. We believe this technology really puts us ahead of our competitors and gives football fans a highly stimulating visual experience in terms of advanced graphics.”
Sky inked a four-year extension with Bundesliga starting next season, an agreement that has it broadcasting more than 570 live games from the league, and the broadcaster announced that it will use Ncam’s AR solution to generate both studio and pitch-side graphics during the games.
