As the NFL season kicks off this week, a cutting-edge technology developed in Israel is poised to change the way fans experience their favorite gridiron match ups.
While excitement generally rides high when football season rolls around each autumn, fans have something special to look forward to this year. An Israeli-invented technology called the freeD (free-dimensional) system, which creates 360-degree panoramic replays and other highlight features, is on the verge of revolutionizing the way football games are viewed.
The video technology was pioneered by an Israeli company called Replay Technologies which was acquired by Intel in 2016. While freeD has already been used by CBS Sports at two Super Bowls and by Turner Sports for the NBA All-Star Game, this NFL season marks a major milestone, with freeD tech being adopted in 11 NFL venues, according to a report on the official website of the NFL’s New England Patriots.
FreeD uses a “ring of 38 ultra-high resolution 5K cameras installed high above the field, combined with super high-performance servers to produce a 15-30 second replay from 1 terabyte of video data for use in a matter of minutes,” explained the Patriots blog, describing freeD’s output as “Matrix -like 360-degree replays.”
In addition to the Patriot’s Kraft Field, freeD systems were installed in the stadiums of the Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens.
FreeD is only the latest example of Israeli-developed tech that is transforming a variety of fields, from cyber security to medicine. The NFL joins a growing list of sports leagues and federations that are benefiting from freeD, such as Major League Baseball, the Pro Golfers Association, the NCAA, the Union of European Football Associations and the U.S. Tennis Association.
By: Ebin Sandler, World Israel News