Intel has announced its acquisition of Replay Technologies, an Israeli start-up that develops 3D and 360-degree video technology for sporting events, earlier this week.
The acquisition was made because of the changing nature in the broadcasting sporting events and the challenges of the companies to get the attention of viewers from increasingly splintered media field, according to TechCrunch. In the recent events such as All-Star Weekend and Super Bowl 50, networks and leagues are continuously looking for new ways on how to engage the fans and keep their interest intact.
Replay Technologies is the perfect company that would help in keeping the interest of fans in watching the game, sharing and talking about is on social media and other platform. The deal would give Intel a new technology for diving into the world of digitization of athletic events and be popular on the immersive sports.
Intel and Replay’s collaboration would help the latter to use the chip maker’s powerful server technology to bring together the pixels into freed images for faster broadcasting. The name freed means free dimensional. The two companies will put together millions of millions 3D pixels called voxels to make 3D pictures while the game is happening.
Intel did not disclose the price of the acquisition but Israeli media outlets apparently reported that Replay deal costs around $175 million, Reuters reported. The two companies have been working together since 2013 and their recent project was the NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk contest, where the viewers experience a free dimensional or full 360 degrees view of the event.
They created a video that renders the court using 28 ultra high-definition cameras positioned around the arena and connected to Intel-based servers. The viewing experience needs high-performance computing, Intel said.
"Together, we will scale this new category for sports entertainment that we call immersive sports, which is attracting the attention of leagues, venues, broadcasters and fans. Immersive sports requires the high-performance computing Intel is known for, and it's also data driven - fueling the continued build out of the cloud,” said Intel Capital president Wendell Brooks in a blog post.
Replay was founded in 2011, and in February, the company has raised $13.5 million in funding by Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners to bring total fundraising to $27 million.