Intel and NFL Introduce freeD Technology in 11 Stadiums for the 2017 Season

Intel and the National Football League (NFL) have come up with a way to deliver more immersive replays to the football fans. The 2017 season will witness the implementation of Intel freeD technology in 11 NFL stadiums. Each of these stadiums has been fitted with 38 5K ultra high-definition cameras to capture the games from every angle. The cameras will create enhanced 360-degree highlights and immersive player perspectives.

Apart from the already operational installation works at the home stadiums of the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, and San Francisco 49ers, Intel is adding one freeD technology-enabled Stadium to each division in the AFC and NFC. These stadiums include:

 Arizona Cardinals

 Carolina Panthers

 Cleveland Browns

 Indianapolis Colts

 Kansas City Chiefs

 Minnesota Vikings

 New England Patriots

 Washington Redskins

Glimpse of Control room where video is processed on Intel Core i7 servers and finalized for distribution

(Image Courtesy: Intel Corporation)

For all the games at these freeD technology-enabled stadiums, the fans will be able to access and share the highlights via NFL.com, NFL mobile app, NFL YouTube channel and other digital offerings by NFL. It will render the fans a chance to experience immersive replays and closer views of the action on the field.

In addition to the 5K ultra high-definition cameras, each venue is equipped with servers that process up to 1 terabyte of data per 15-30 second clip. After capturing this data, the volumetric video is fed through miles of fiber-optic cables into a special control room.

Here the Intel production team virtually re-creates the selected clip in 3D from an ideal vantage point or player’s perspective to take fans directly into the game from angles that are not accessible to the regular cameras.

About Intel

Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world’s largest and highest valued semiconductor chip makers based on revenue and is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors: the processors found in most personal computers (PCs).

Intel supplies processors for computer systems and manufactures motherboard chipsets, network interface controllers and integrated circuits, flash memory, graphics chips, embedded processors and other devices related to communications and computing.