Sky Deutschland selects ncam camera tracking system

The German pay TV channel Sky Deutschland is going to launch the new ncam camera tracking system at the last three Bundesliga matchdays, writes Birgit Heidsiek. In the forthcoming season, the virtual technology will be used for every crunch meeting held on Saturdays. The new virtual experience on Sky will commence at the Bundesliga match Leverkusen vs Dortmund on April 26.

Sky is the first broadcaster in Germany to bring this virtual technology to the world of soccer. “We are always trying to surprise our viewers with something new, cool and innovative in our sport reports which has an additional value and, if possible, a certain wow effect,” states Alessandro Reitano, director, sports production. “This might happen again with the ncam technology which will become a permanent part in our sport reports. We are going to combine virtuality with reality in real-time which is a genuine innovation in sport production.”

The ncam camera tracking system features a multi-sensor bar that is unobtrusively mounted on the camera and provides real-time data to its associated tracking server. ncam provides complete position and rotation information, plus focal length and focus, via industry standard protocols compatible with any VR/AR graphics system.

The innovative system makes it possible to create virtual screens which are floating on the side of the pitch in order to show photos or clips from former encounters. The camera can even zoom seamless into a segment which is shown on a virtual screen and eventually turn into a full screen shot on the TV set.

“Sky is the first broadcaster in Germany [to be] introducing this virtual technology in soccer games,” concludes Reitano. “This underlines our role as  an innovation leader.”