TRACAB Gen5 shows results for player-tracking data collection
The new Gen5 version of ChyronHego’s TRACAB optical tracking system has been certified by the new FIFA Quality Program for EPTS (Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems) for the global football industry. Of the four tracking systems to achieve this certification, TRACAB Gen5 is the only optical tracking system to be qualified and to demonstrate clear industry-leading results.
“ChyronHego has been a pioneer and industry leader in player- and ball-tracking technology for many years, and we are immensely proud that the exceptional performance of our TRACAB technology has been recognized and validated through the FIFA Quality Program for EPTS,” said Ian Wray, sports director, EMEA and APAC, at ChyronHego. “Testing performed by FIFA independently demonstrates accuracy results for TRACAB Gen5 that surpass those of any other certified system. Because the assessed data was taken from live delivery, testing by FIFA also illustrates the huge improvements that TRACAB Gen5 offers in powering live data applications. We are excited about the benefits that TRACAB Gen5 brings to market with its incomparable level of performance, and we foresee the system powering a data revolution in football.”
For the EPTS program, FIFA appointed Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, to conduct specialized testing using a standardized protocol designed to bring independence, objectivity, and transparency to the process. Designed for a sports market in which data accuracy is becoming ever more important, test scenarios measured the performance of tracking systems in different situations. The resultant data was measured against data from the millimeter-accurate VICON motion capture system, which represents the gold standard for ground-truth comparison. The results attained through the EPTS assessment showed that TRACAB Gen5 data was of the highest possible quality across all measured categories.
“This result affirms the tremendous achievements in ChyronHego’s continued innovation of the TRACAB system, spanning 15 years of focused development effort in computer-vision AI techniques, as well as our wealth of real-world experience in coping with the wide variety of challenging circumstances for tracking players, referees, and the ball,” added Wray.
Spatial-temporal and derived-metrics data feeds from TRACAB Gen5 systems can be accessed through a series of APIs to service the wide variety and expanding number of use cases for football data. The data supports broadcast applications such as rendering live player graphics with tools such as Virtual Football for illustration purposes; performance analysis applications used in coaching; and even in-stadium entertainment on LED boards using Click Effects PRIME. Derived metrics are available for contextualized in-game and seasonal analysis of statistics. When ultra-low latency is of the utmost importance, as for innovative applications such as fan engagement using augmented reality, data from TRACAB Gen5 can be delivered within 150ms, the fastest delivery time for a data set of this richness in sport.
“Previous generations of TRACAB, deployed on well over 2,500 football matches every year, already perform at a very high level, but with Gen5 we’ve introduced a brand-new architecture that solves many of the challenges associated with optical tracking, especially around object occlusion,” said Eric Hayman, chief scientist at ChyronHego. “This new architecture and significant redevelopment of our AI algorithms allow TRACAB Gen5 to perform in a class above its previous generations, especially in player identification and ball-tracking capabilities. This has certainly been evident in the FIFA testing results and certification, which we are honored to have received. Looking to the future, we are particularly excited about the further opportunities for innovation that this new tracking platform provides in a wide range of unexplored application areas.”
TRACAB Gen5’s EPTS FIFA Quality Program results are available online via this link. More information about TRACAB Gen5 and the full line of ChyronHego products is available at www.chyronhego.com.
Tim Albright is the founder of AVNation and is the driving force behind the AVNation network. He carries the InfoComm CTS, a B.S. from Greenville College and is pursuing an M.S. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. When not steering the AVNation ship, Tim has spent his career designing systems for churches both large and small, Fortune 500 companies, and education facilities.