Sony Ocellus brings marker-free AR tracking to live sports

During IBC, Sony demonstrated how its Ocellus camera tracking system is being used to bring AR graphics to live sports broadcasts.

A Sony live production camera equipped with Sony’s Ocellus unit was able to track the image, enabling virtual graphics to be overlaid on the live image. This enables AR graphics such as scoreboards, play-by-play information and flag or scorecard graphics to be added and locked in place as the camera moves.

Ocellus uses a sensor unit, processing box and lens encoder, with five image sensors and Sony’s Visual SLAM technology providing marker-free tracking.

The system feeds real-time camera position data, including zoom and focus, into Unreal Engine or another graphics renderer, which then renders the virtual graphics so they hold their position in the frame regardless of camera movement.

The system was recently used at a “large sport event” in Austria, where Sony’s Ocellus rental partner in Europe, Offshoot Operations, used the system to add match ID graphics, player stats and team stats to coverage that had not previously featured AR.

Ocellus’s ability to be rigged and calibrated independently of the camera meant the tracking area could be mapped out in the stadium ahead of time, with the system attached to the Steadicam once it arrived later in the day.

Offshoot has also used Ocellus at events including The Open golf, citing stable tracking even in challenging conditions.