IBM Brings Hyper-Reality Video To Wimbledon iPhones

UK spectators watching the action at Wimbledon from the infamous Henman Hill will enjoy a double whammy of good fortune this year.

IBM announced this week that it further developed a mobile application launched last year with the ability to actually view video of live games. IBM’s “Seer” mobile app for iPhone and Android handsets now has the ability to stream video from on and off court based on where the user is standing.

Seeing through walls

In a video posted to YouTube, IBM explains that the app allows spectators inside the Wimbledon complex to point their mobile at a court and see the action inside via their mobile.

Selecting the handset’s camera from within the Seer app brings up the normal image of what the viewfinder sees but with icons overlaid on the image – so-called “augmented reality”. Pressing a touch-screen video icon will then take the user to live video from within the court which the camera is pointing at.

“Imagine if you are walking past centre court and you hear a massive roar go up from crowd and everyone is really excited and you want to know what is going on,  all you have to do is point your phone in the direction of the court, hit the video and you can immediately see what is going on,” IBM said.

As well as video, the application also includes an interactive map and what IBM describes as “geo-tagged” information on queue lengths, food and drink stands and other serious Wimbledon issues.  “IBM Seer has been designed to enhance the way people can experience and engage with major events of the future. It allows smarter use of the data and information that is all around us,” said Alan Flack, IBM’s Wimbledon client and programme executive.

Augmented reality appolications have been circulating in laboratories for some time – with Alcatel Lucent for instance showing one at its recent Bell Labs open day in France.

Henman Hill

Wimbledon fans watching from the hill formerly known and Aorangi Terrace will not only be able to take advantage of this “augmented reality app” but they won’t have to suffer the spectacle of any male English players being chewed up at the world famous grass tournament.

Although Scotland’s Andy Murray will be representing the UK at the event, it emerged last week that Wimbledon will not feature an Englishman in the singles for the first time in its 133-year.

Last week, IT managers were warned to brace themselves and their internet networks for potential gridlock resulting from the World Cup.