Orad Reveals an Array of Technological Innovations for Sports Broadcasting and Webcasting at NAB 2001
CyberPlay: A new sports replay and analysis tool creating dynamic 3D animation clips from live action and used to enhance sports shows and live broadcasts. CyberPlay is the new way of enhancing TV sports broadcasts, not with only a frozen video frame. Using Orad's unique tracking and animation authoring technologies, compelling 3D graphical animation of the match key plays are generated.
Since the broadcaster controls the camera position and point of view, he can show and then rerun the clip from any angle and pan the camera during the action. This unique feature allows the commentator to present a true top view and any zoom or camera position – even through the eyes of a chosen player.
No venue presence is required. CyberPlay is a standalone system located at the main production studio using the venue's feed. CyberPlay clips can be shown as a delayed replay during the match, half-time shows, post-game commentaries or sports magazines. Broadcasters can increase ratings by adding new dimension to match commentary, more insight to the fans. And generate new revenues through virtual advertising on stadium billboards on the virtual playing field.
The animation clips can be created in minutes and the actual animation creation is automatic, once you have chosen the clip and tracked the players. The secret is top technology from ORAD and Intel. Camera views can be preprogrammed, or the sportscaster can control the cameras. The result is broadcast quality video with perspectives never seen before!
CyberPaint: Developed by Orad for the 2002 Football World Cup, CyberPaint replaces the familiar telestrator. Gone are the days when commentators had to freeze a frame in order to draw symbols that immediately lost their meaning when the camera started panning. CyberPaint can be used on the live action or as an instant playback, giving viewers enough time to digest all the information. Amazing as it may sound, with CyberPaint, freehand drawings remain fixed to the playing field no matter what the motion of the shooting camera is. Players running on top of a "painted" area will occlude it exactly as if the graphics had been physically drawn on the field!
Commentators can paint directly onto the grass, the floor, the ice, the track, easily drawing chalkboard diagrams on the touchscreen and letting the playback run. In real-time, colors, line styles, circles, arrows, freehand drawing and much more can be chosen.
TOPlay: delivers full motion 3D graphic, interactive sports information, data and entertainment based on live sports events. TOPlay delivers to the Internet the same real 3D animations that CyberPlay delivers to TV broadcasters, where the fans can control and play the clips interactively.
Operated by sports media providers, TOPlay™ Soccer gives sports fans, as well as an interactive experience of the game on their PC access to a wealth of related data, information and shopping opportunities. Now sports fans can experience a sports match on the web directly from a standard PC with standard modems.
TOPlay is developed by OradNet Inc. OradNet Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Orad Hi-Tec Systems Ltd. (Neuer Markt: OHT.f). OradNet is dedicated to the development, marketing and commercialization of technologies for immersive sports webcasting and other media. OradNet's applications, developed in joint projects with Intel Corporation, will provide the fast-growing Internet and other media market with the high impact tools for increasing revenue streams and for delivering an exciting immersive sports experience.
Forum: The latest in sports video servers with 6 concurrent channels. Forum is the "next generation" in sports video servers. It is the most compact sports server ever designed, 3U height. Forum has 6 channels of concurrent playing and recording that give total flexibility to the operators and directors (e.g. 2 Rec and 4 Play, or 4 Play and 2 Rec, or 1 super slow motion, 1 Rec, 1 Play with FX…)
Forum is based on a new architecture that allows a complete sharing of media: Net@forum. This means that any user in the network of servers can access any data at any time so that the content will be shared to best match the production needs but also that a single user can work more channels than it is currently possible on one-to-one traditional architectures.
By applying the latest technologies in computer networking and media sharing, net@forum ensures low cost and high efficiency for the sports producer.
HorseTrack: The world's first horse tracking and identification system for horserace broadcast and webcast applications. HorseTrack uses advanced proprietary wireless technologies to continuously track the location of miniature tags that are attached to the jockeys' helmets. The data is updated in real time and the tracking information is integrated with other systems to support broadcast enhancement features, to afford webcasting or to serve as an independent source for content generation. This technology is ideal for on-line gaming and betting.
HorseTrack can be integrated with Orad's advanced broadcast enhancement tools such as CyberSport, CyberGraphics, Forum and IMadGINE to strengthen the capabilities for visual effects and presentation of information.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has applied and tested the HorseTrack system from Orad during the two Sha Tin barrier trials.
These new innovations will join Orad's already acclaimed line of sports broadcast and webcast technologies.
To see live demos of these products, visit us at NAB Stand #S5332.
About Orad
Orad is a publicly-traded company, whose principal investors are ISL, the world's largest sports sponsorship organization, Intel Atlantic, a subsidiary of Intel Corp. and the ORMAT Group, a publicly traded conglomerate of companies engaged in high-tech investments, optical inspection, alternative energy and sophisticated medical diagnostics.
Founded in 1993, Orad is a world leader in TV production technology and sports broadcasting tools. Orad has received extensive worldwide recognition for its systems at a wide-range of events including the 2000 Emmy Award for the ‘Implementation of Real Time Virtual Imaging for Live Events on Television'.
Special Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. There also exist various risk factors related to the Company's business, such as the risk that the Company's new products will not achieve market acceptance, as well as other factors, which could cause actual events or the Company's to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Orad directs readers to the more detailed discussion of risk factors related to its business in its IPO Prospectus under the heading "Risk Factors''.
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