NBA All-Star 2014 dunk contest uses algorithm to make real-time 3D replays

For 2014′s NBA All-Star weekend, the league is implementing advanced technology to better showcase the festivities. By employing an algorithm designed by tech company Replay Technologies, the dunk contest and All-Star game are going to broadcast real-time replays in 3D.
Out of all of the professional sports leagues, the NBA has been leading the technological revolution for quite some time. NBA League Pass is regularly regarded as the best digital viewing package offered by any pro sports league. The SportVU advanced player tracking and camera system has opened up a whole new world of advanced analytics never before seen in pro sports. NBA players have the most followers on social media out of other athletes, are the most active users, and (though subjective) are generally viewed as the most entertaining as well. The NBA is also the league most accepting of videos being posted on the internet; you’ll rarely find a smartphone-recorded clip of an NBA game taken down from YouTube — even controversial clips that may cast the league in a negative light. One NBA team even started accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets and merchandise. Now, the NBA is set to showcase yet another form of cutting-edge tech during its 2014 All-Star weekend that serves up real-time 3D replays of the all the action.
In conjunction with 22 cameras set up around the arena, Replay Technologies’ software, dubbed FreeD, allows a replay to be viewed at any angle and can change that angle on the fly. It’s similar to how the famous bullet-dodging scene in The Matrix was shot. That rig was composed of cameras aligned on a spiral frame, and each camera snapped a shot of Keanu Reeves in sequential order. When the individual shots were put together, it looked as though one camera panned around the actor. However, the cameras placed around the basketball court aren’t attached to some giant, cumbersome spiral frame. Instead, Replay Technologies employs an algorithm that not only synchronizes the cameras, but is able to render the footage quickly enough to show it soon after the event took place. Basically, it takes the footage and puts the pixels in a 3D space, then intelligently fills in the gaps when certain pixels would be missing.
Not only does this make the experience more interesting for viewers, but it could prove to be an invaluable tool for athletes looking to iron out the kinks in their form. Sure, participants in the All-Star dunk contest probably don’t need to tidy up the form of dunks that they would never perform in a regulation game, but it could easily help with shooting form, learning what went wrong with a broken play, and even figuring out the weaknesses in an opponent’s game. Also, it sure would be awesome to have this technology available the next time someone like Vince Carter enters a dunk contest and makes history.
Though the NBA leads the pro sports technology revolution, the league is actually a little late to the FreeD party. Replay was given two million dollars to commission a prototype of the rig for the 2012 London Olympics, and since then it has been used in the NFL, Yankees games, an NCAA football game, and a PGA tournament.
Even though there will likely never be another Vince Carter shoving his arm through the hoop or Dwight Howard flying through the air like Superman, we’ll hopefully see something worth rendering in real-time 3D at this year’s dunk contest.