LOS ANGELES—Those of us watching Super Bowl LI this year will likely never have the chance to know what it feels like to be on the field in the year’s biggest football game, but Fox Sports and Intel are making it so we can get an idea. Fox Sports has introduced a “Be the Player” replay enhancement to provide a player point-of-view perspective during Super Bowl LI, all without a camera attached to a player.
To capture this unique view, Intel uses the cameras around the stadium to synthesize a player’s view on the field. Backed up by Intel computing power, the camera footage is recreated into a 3D space, placing what Michael Davies, Fox Sports SVP of field and technical operations, calls a “virtual camera” at a player’s eye line.
To produce this new replay footage, Fox Sports production efforts for Super Bowl LI will include Super Motion and 4K cameras, three production trucks, and more than 70 cameras during the game.
The technology was previously tested during the Fosters Farm Bowl between Indiana and Utah in December. See the video here.
Super Bowl LI will be broadcast of Fox stations on Feb. 5 from NRG Stadium in Houston.
