Quidich Hyperview ‘adds a new dimension’ to test cricket coverage

Quidich Hyperview is being used to engage and inform viewers of test cricket this summer. The technology, which offers a real-time visual representation of the fielding position in a 3D environment, featured in the ICC World Test Championship earlier this month and is also being utilised during the ongoing Ashes series between England and Australia.

In recent years, test cricket has evolved in many way, including the adoption of more unconventional fielding strategies. One of the many reasons fans are keen to watch the Ashes series is to witness the English ‘Bazball’ style of play, which came to prominence during the 2022 English cricket season.

In turn, broadcasters are seeking to give viewers a slice of these new fielding strategies in more engaging ways through immersive visual narrations on screen, which is where Hyperview comes in. As a tool for analytical storytelling for fielding in cricket, it allows the broadcast to contextualise and feature fielding stories in more comprehensive ways. The technology conveys these stories via highly immersive visuals to relay information about the field to viewers.

In the ongoing Ashes series, broadcast by Sky Sports, Hyperview has showcased in detail key aspects of test cricket fielding, such as slip cordons and fielders close to the bat.

“We’ve built specific tools to add to that narrative for viewers to understand new test strategies in the Ashes series this year,” said Gaurav Mehta, co-founder of Quidich Innovation Labs.

“Earlier this test cricketing season, HyperView featured in the WTC. Specific branding and specific features for fielding data and analytics were built by us for the ICC.”

Hyperview helps to build deeper engagement with fans by visualising complex data for them in a simple and succinct way on screen. While it carries out complex analysis of vast amounts of data, it is able to simplify interpretation through engaging visuals that can be understood easily by the viewer.

The technology behind Hyperview is Quidich Tracker (QT), which accurately tracks player positions, speeds and movement trajectories in real-time using advanced AI and ML algorithms. Hyperview processes data from QT along with various other tracking algorithms to create stories for fielding placements and strategies. The technology showcases fielding in a 360 degree view of the cricket field in a virtual environment built to depict a digital 3D twin of any stadium across the world.

“Hyperview has added a new dimension to the storytelling of test cricket broadcast and is being used by producers, directors and commentators in very interesting ways to engage with people watching the game a lot more,” added Mehta.

“We are delighted to partner with Quidich for a fantastic summer of Ashes cricket. The team are fantastic to work with as we constantly try to innovate and take our viewers closer to the action,” said Bryan Henderson, Sky Sports head of cricket and NFL.

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