Intel is diving further into 3D technology, and it’s hoping to bring sports fans along for the ride. The company announced overnight that it acquired the Israeli company Replay Technologies, which makes “free dimensional” 3D video technology. Intel has been partnering with Replay since 2013, and most recently the two companies joined forces during the NBA All-Star Weekend, where fans got to experience a full 360 degrees of the popular Slam Dunk contest.
Intel explains how that collaboration worked: Replay’s freeD technology created a 3D video rendering of the entire court using 28 ultra-HD cameras placed around the area. Those cameras were connected to Intel servers, which then allowed broadcasters to transmit the contest from various angles and give fans a 360-degree view of the dunks. This kind of 3D video technology is extremely computation-intensive, so Intel had to use a lot of servers to pull of this experience.
Intel is no stranger to 3D technology: the company’s RealSense 3D cameras have been around for the past couple of years and have been integrated into PCs and laptops. The cameras allow users to do things like implement a green-screen effect to change the background behind them and look around Google Maps’ Street View using just head motions, but those features are more along the lines of fun and interesting than practical. Acquiring Replay Technologies is a way for Intel to expand 3D video technology into a different industry, not to mention on a larger scale. The company refers to the next iteration of broadcast sports as “immersive sports,” which it says is inherently more interactive and collaborative than simply watching a basketball game on TV.
“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,” Intel says in the press release. “For athletes, coaches, broadcasters and fans, the ability to capture, analyze and share data adds compelling new dimensions to the game.”
Intel did not provide a price figure for the acquisition, but the Israeli publication Globes says the figure is $175 million.
