I should almost put an "OT" on this feel-good PR (I want to hear about the Saudis!!!) :
INDIAN WELLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 1999--Lucent Technologies and the ATP Tour announced today the
first U.S. demonstration of LucentVision(tm), innovative new broadcast technology for real-time sports analysis, at the Newsweek
Champions Cup tournament here. ESPN, which will telecast the tournament in the United States, and the ATP Tour world feed will
use LucentVision on-air to illustrate players' on-court movements, speeds, and court strategies. In addition, the ATP Tour Web site
(www.atptour.com) will provide LucentVision graphics after each match.
LucentVision, which was introduced during the ATP Tour World Championship in Hannover, Germany in November, 1998, is the
first real-time visual information system for sports broadcasters. The technology, developed by Bell Labs, the research and
development arm of Lucent Technologies, is a significant advance in computer vision.
"Tennis is uniquely suited to the kind of analysis that LucentVision provides - this is cutting-edge technology that actually delivers
new kinds of visual statistics for the viewer," said J. Wayne Richmond, ATP Tour executive vice president for the Americas. "We're
excited about our work with the Bell Labs team that has developed LucentVision; Lucent is an ideal partner for this endeavor."
Lucent Technologies and the ATP Tour announced an innovation partnership at the ATP Tour World Singles Championship in
Hannover, Germany last November. LucentVision was used during each day of the tournament to illustrate players' strategies and
movements on court. Host broadcaster ZDF, as well as Eurosport, ESPN, and international television worldwide carried LucentVision
graphics.
"The ATP has provided us with an opportunity to explore and apply new kinds of broadcast technology in ways that enhance the
presentation of their sport," said Peter de Tagyos, vice president of global event marketing for Lucent Technologies.
"LucentVision is the first in a series of real-time broadcast enhancements that will allow viewers to better feel the speed and
athleticism of a tennis match."
LucentVision will be used in the broadcast of Mercedes Super 9 Tournaments to be held in Indian Wells Calif., Monte Carlo,
Hamburg, Rome, Montreal, Cincinnati, Stuttgart, and Paris. It will also be used at the ATP Tour World Championship in 1999.
LucentVision enables viewers to see the players' court coverage pattern and their match strategy in real-time. The system uses
computer vision techniques to track the position, direction and speed of players' movements. Each player is tracked by a video camera
that is attached to a computer. The computer stores the tracking information for each player along with the match score in a visual
database. Broadcasters can retrieve information from the database at any time during a match and can use LucentVision to analyze
and illustrate to the viewer a player's performance.
Future real-time broadcast enhancements under development include ball tracking, virtual replays from any point of view,
cyber-versions of top players and Internet simulcast capabilities with viewers choosing where to direct the camera.
LucentVision was developed by Bell Labs scientists Yves Jean and Gopal Pingali, members of the Bell Labs Multimedia
Communications Research Laboratory.
"The innovation partnership with the ATP Tour provides us with an extension of our 'living multimedia lab,' where real-world
applications allow us to experiment with new visual communications technologies," said Ingrid Carlbom, director of the Visual
Communications Research Department at Bell Labs. "LucentVision is a stellar example of the research that Bell Labs conducts in
virtual reality, computer graphics, and visual database systems."
Lucent Technologies designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and
software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Laboratories is the research and
development arm of the company. For more information about Lucent Technologies, visit the company's web site at
lucent.com.
The ATP Tour is the international governing body of men's professional tennis and is dedicated to promoting, growing and
increasing the popularity of the game. For more information, visit the ATP Tour web site at atptour.com.
--30--sdg/ny*
CONTACT: Lucent Technologies
Chris Pfaff
908-582-7571 (office)
800-705-2368 (pager)
cpfaff@lucent.com
or
ATP Tour
Joe Lynch
760-776-8748 (ATP press office)
jlynch@atptour.usa.com
KEYWORD: NEW JERSEY CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET SPORTS PRODUCT |
