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Tencent Technology News, July 22, according to foreign media reports, the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics will open on July 26 and last until August 11. During this period, hundreds of events will be held in a few weeks, and some events will even be held at the same time, causing many sports fans to beat their chests and stamp their feet because they missed the wonderful moments. Fortunately, this year's viewing experience will be richer and more diverse than ever before.

In the past, the Olympic Games broadcast has been criticized for not meeting the audience's demand for instant viewing. As the main broadcaster of the Olympic Games in the United States, NBC's past strategy has been criticized for its fragmented channels and delayed live broadcasts until prime time. This year, NBC, together with other broadcasters, is actively innovating to allow viewers to easily capture every exciting moment of their favorite events anytime, anywhere.

At the same time, online platforms are not to be outdone and have created exclusive Olympic spaces. TikTok has set up an Olympic zone, and Instagram's @olympics account has pre-heated for 8.2 million fans, sharing athletes' training highlights and wonderful moments. NBC has worked closely with social media creators to present every detail of the Paris Olympics. Google is not far behind, and through search results and Google Assistant, it instantly pushes game scores, award ceremonies and highlights, making Olympic information at your fingertips.

Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), said: “We live in fascinating but challenging times, one of which is the extreme fragmentation of audiences. It is difficult to bring together such a large and fragmented audience, as audiences are spread all over the world with different consumption habits.”

However, the Olympic Games, as a global sporting event, is such a rare opportunity. Exjos said that the significant change in Olympic coverage lies in its unprecedented richness of content, with the total duration expected to exceed 3,800 hours. OBS plans to transform these valuable materials into a matrix of more than 11,000 hours of exciting content, covering live broadcasts, behind-the-scenes revelations, in-depth analysis and highlights, to fully meet the different needs of viewers.

Faced with such a huge amount of content, how to efficiently filter it becomes the key. NBC's streaming platform Peacock is committed to simplifying the viewing experience, by launching a series of innovative viewing options, allowing users to customize their own Olympic coverage according to their personal preferences. In addition, Peacock will cover almost all live broadcasts of the Olympic Games and the subsequent Paralympic Games held in Paris (opening on August 28).

In the Peacock Olympics Center, viewers can sort lists by sports, athletes or countries, accurately locate the events they want to watch, and add them to a personalized watch list with one click. This feature not only allows viewers to freely plan their live viewing schedule, but also provides them with a convenient playback platform to relive the highlights at any time. In addition, Peacock has introduced the Multiview tool, allowing users to enjoy live broadcasts of up to four events at the same time, easily switching between exciting matches.

In order to capture more exciting moments, OBS has increased the number of multi-camera systems to achieve multi-angle motion capture and super slow motion playback, while introducing movie-level lenses to give the event images a deeper sense of art and visual impact. Thanks to OBS's in-depth application of artificial intelligence and cloud technology, the real-time processing of these complex lenses has greatly shortened the time, allowing these difficult lenses to be seamlessly integrated into live coverage.

Exjos said that these innovative technologies are leading a new era of sports live broadcasts, such as the 360-degree replay function, which allows viewers to feel as if they are in the stadium, freely rotating their perspectives as athletes take off, and experiencing an unprecedented immersive viewing experience. He explained: "The science fiction scenes in The Matrix can now become a reality in both cinemas and live broadcasts."

OBS is working to capture the depth and breadth of sound in a 5.1.4 audio configuration, striving to restore every bit of immersion in the venue during intense competitions and interviews with athletes on the sidelines.Augmented RealityWith cutting-edge technologies such as "On-site Monitoring Station", audiences far away at home can also feel the enthusiastic atmosphere of the Olympic Games and get closer to the events.

"If we are only satisfied with replicating past glories, it means stagnation. As the spirit of sports advocates, we need to constantly explore the unknown, break through new areas, and strive to surpass ourselves and set new heights every time," Exjos stressed.

As expected, the widespread use of artificial intelligence tools will sweep through the 2024 Paris Olympics. Top broadcasters such as OBS and NBC will use the power of artificial intelligence to extract the best clips from thousands of hours of footage, capture every decisive moment, and deliver them directly to the audience after careful editing.

In this feast of technology and sports, many companies have taken the lead in the field of artificial intelligence. Among them, NBC has taken the initiative to use the artificial intelligence voice of legendary sports anchor Al Michaels to narrate the wonderful programs on the Peacock channel. The artificial intelligence voice engine has deeply learned Michaels' past commentary style, and its output is smooth and natural, which is amazing.

When watching live games, AI is like an instant information consultant, summoning and presenting key data on the screen in real time, including athlete statistics, probability predictions of shots or record-breaking, and even AI-enhanced dynamic views of the game. In addition, AI has extended its reach to the advertising field, and NBC is actively integrating it into its advertising platform to achieve personalized and accurate advertising push.

This feast of broadcast technology provided an excellent stage for the actual combat exercise of new technologies. NBC regarded the Olympics as the debut stage for Multiview and user customization functions, indicating that these innovative functions will frequently appear in future live broadcasts of sports events and become the norm. According to NBC insiders, the application prospects of this technology unveiled at the Paris Olympics are far more than sports events, and it is expected to be expanded to non-sports large-scale events such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Exjos said that the ultimate vision of this series of technologies is to deepen the emotional bond between the audience and the event and the athletes, especially after two Olympic Games restricted by the epidemic, people are eager to resume physical contact and share the on-site experience. He said with emotion: "We are in a special period. People are eager for and miss the physical and mental experience of gathering with others, and sports are a powerful catalyst to stimulate this emotional resonance." (Compiled by Jinlu)