Shantel
Key Takeaways
- IBM and The All England Lawn Tennis Club introduce new features for the Wimbledon digital fan experience.
- The AI Commentary feature provides fans with audio commentary and captions for match highlights videos, enhancing the viewing experience.
- The IBM AI Draw Analysis feature offers a unique statistic that evaluates the path to the final for each player in the singles draw, providing insights into draw favorability.
- These features exemplify how IBM and Wimbledon leverage technology to engage fans and provide deeper insights into the Championships.
Introduction
IBM (NYSE: IBM) and The All England Lawn Tennis Club have announced exciting new features for the Wimbledon digital fan experience, set to launch during this year’s Championships. Leveraging innovative technology, IBM aims to enhance the engagement and enjoyment of tennis fans by introducing generative AI commentary and AI draw analysis.
AI Commentary: Enhancing the Viewing Experience
The AI Commentary feature is designed to provide fans watching match highlights videos with audio commentary and captions of key moments. Developed in collaboration with experts from IBM iX, the experience design partner within IBM Consulting, this feature offers fans a more insightful experience when catching up on important moments from matches. By toggling the captions on or off, fans can customize their viewing experience. This AI Commentary feature extends the availability of exciting commentary beyond Wimbledon’s Show Courts, where live human commentary is already provided.
To create this innovative feature, IBM iX collaborated with The All England Club and leveraged foundation models from watsonx, IBM’s enterprise AI and data platform. These models were trained in the unique language of tennis, enabling generative AI to produce narration with varied sentence structure and vocabulary, making the clips informative and engaging for fans.
AI Draw Analysis: Uncovering Draw Favorability
In a first for tennis, IBM introduces the AI Draw Analysis feature, providing a new statistic to assess the favorability of a player’s path to the final in the singles draw. Leveraging AI capabilities, this feature evaluates various factors, including a player’s potential match-ups against future opponents and their position in the draw compared to competitors. The analysis results in a rating along a scale, indicating the player’s draw favorability. This unique insight allows tennis fans to identify anomalies and potential surprises within the singles draw, sparking debate and engagement within the fan community.
Revolutionizing the Wimbledon Digital Experience
Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing & Commercial Director at The All England Club, expresses the clubs’ commitment to providing an insightful and engaging digital experience for Wimbledon fans worldwide. The introduction of these new features on the Wimbledon App and wimbledon.com showcases the ongoing partnership between IBM and Wimbledon in leveraging technology to revolutionize the way fans engage with the Championships.
Jonathan Adashek, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for IBM, highlights the power of foundation models and generative AI from watsonx in bringing new layers of insight and engagement to the 2023 Championships. IBM’s use of AI and data platforms not only enhances the fan experience at Wimbledon but also drives business transformation across various industries.
The Suite of AI-Powered Digital Tools
The AI Commentary and AI Draw Analysis features are the latest additions to the suite of AI-powered digital tools available to fans on the Wimbledon App and wimbledon.com. These tools include the IBM Power Index Leaderboard, IBM Match Insights, and Personalized Highlights Reels and Recommendations. Powered by IBM’s Watson AI technology and analyzed on IBM Cloud, these digital features utilize over 100,000 data points from every shot played throughout the tournament. They provide fans with comprehensive insights on players, comparisons to opponents, and predictions of match outcomes, keeping fans updated and engaged throughout the Championships.
Conclusion
As the Championships, Wimbledon approaches, IBM’s introduction of generative AI commentary and AI draw analysis demonstrates the ongoing commitment to enhancing the digital fan experience. By leveraging innovative technologies, IBM continues to provide tennis enthusiasts with deeper insights, engaging features, and a more immersive experience. To witness these advancements in action, visit wimbledon.com or download the Wimbledon App from the App Store or Google Play Store.
