ORF plans in-game World Cup Viz analysis

Austrian national broadcaster ORF will use the Viz Libero sports analysis system for the World Cup in Brazil. ORF is innovating in cooperation with Vizrt’s creative team, enabling Virtual Presenter to bring analysis into the virtual studio. Using 3D camera flights and real-time graphics, the experts have a new viewing experience directly from the virtual football field.

The regular Austrian national soccer league plays an important role for ORF’s weekend programming, with live broadcasts from key matches and a summary analysis show on Sunday afternoon. ORF employs a team of experts who comb the football content to find the best scenes to analyse in Viz Libero. A close cooperation is fostered between experts, journalists and the Viz Libero operator – who is provided by Austrian sports graphic company On Air Media Solutions – to deliver high-end sports analysis to viewers.

“For me as an expert, Viz Libero delivers amazing views about action and reaction relation,” said Dr Gerhard Lackner, Chief of ORF’s TV Football Department. “This tool delivers new viewpoints for not only for football beginners but also for established football analysers.”

“The goal is not only to show another fancy graphic solution — we would like to show what is developing in the early stages of a game, and how they will finally end in a goal or other key game incident,” continued Lackner.

“It’s very exciting for us to have ORF using Viz Libero and Virtual Presenter as their key storytelling tools for the World Cup,” said Dr Stephan Würmlin Stadler, Executive VP Sports, Vizrt. “It’s important that this tool is easy to use, very flexible for the broadcaster and allows them to tell stories that were never possible before.”