From Virtualization to AR, LaLiga applies a myriad of technologies for the 2020-21 season

On October 24, the first El Clásico of the 2020-21 season will take place at Camp Nou based on official announcement from LaLiga. The loyal fans of Barcelona and Real Madrid must have been waiting for this moment, especially Barcelona fans considering the last match of the previous season was won by Real Madrid with a score of 2-0 in March.

However, rather than discussing the match, I am more interested in discussing how LaLiga uses various technologies to improve its broadcasts during an unusual season in the midst of a pandemic.

For those of you who have watched one of the LaLiga matches in the 2020-21 season, you may have been surprised or amazed to see the grandstand area filled with spectators, because it is clearly against the health protocols set during the pandemic.

In fact, the audience seats are empty. What we are seeing is the result of applying virtualization technology, and LaLiga considers this a very important aspect because they want the home crowd to stay focused on the game without being distracted by empty stands.

The mission of spoiling the audience at home is crucial considering that internal LaLiga data shows that there has been an increase in the number of viewers by around 20-30% during the current season amid the pandemic. In addition to displaying virtual audiences in the stands, LaLiga also utilizes other parts of the stands to display various other content, such as messages to viewers at home, or messages from sponsors.

LaLiga calls this innovation by the term virtual stands, and interestingly, they plan to keep using it even after the pandemic is over. In an event media briefings which I followed via Zoom, I had time to ask about the new technologies used by the LaLiga production team during the pandemic, which are planned to continue to be implemented in the future, and virtual stands this is one of them.

Head of Content and Programming at LaLiga, Roger Brosel, explained that although initially virtual stands it was only used to fill a void in the stadium, the LaLiga production team is now exploring ways to keep implementing it once things get back to normal.

This virtualization would not be complete without optimization of camera placement. What used to be on the sidelines has now been moved to the grandstand area for viewing replay not showing too many empty seats. In addition, Roger said that by the end of 2020, there will be 16 stadiums that have been installed with the system aerial cameras complete. The number of stadiums equipped with the Replay360° system has also increased to 8.

In addition to providing visual illusions, LaLiga apparently also presents aural illusions. The roar of the crowd will always be heard throughout the match, just like when the stadium is completely filled under normal conditions. In fact, the cheers of the crowd were actually the recordings of the matches played by each club.

Funnily enough, this audio recording was originally made for EA's use at game FIFA. Now, everything has beenremaster for use in LaLiga shows. Amount sound engineer act like a DJ, playing the right audio and adapting it to the moment. So when a team manages to score a goal, we will also hear cheers from the fans.

Roger had told a little about a commentator who had unconsciously commented on how lively the support from the fans was, before he finally realized that it was all just an illusion.

But of the many technologies applied, perhaps the most interesting is the implementation of graphics augmented reality (AR). From simple ones showing team formations directly on the pitch, to more complex ones where the graphics can actually follow the player's movements, all of these are initiatives that have just been implemented in the 2020-21 season.

AR graphics and even LaLiga tandem with AI-based data prediction technology. So if a player is preparing to take a corner, the camera will switch to a wide view, and an AR graph will appear showing the percentage of possible directions for a corner from that player; whether it bounced in front of goal, near the penalty spot, or a short pass to another player that would normally be followed by a crossing.

All of this makes the match feel a bit like watching the game Esports FIFA, especially when looking at the player name indicator that moves to follow where the player goes. However, Roger admits that its implementation is not easy.

One of LaLiga's biggest challenges is how they can intuitively present the data in the form of AR graphs. Too much data has the potential to disturb the concentration of the audience, so LaLiga must really package it in a visual form that is easy for the audience to understand, because the graph may only appear in a matter of seconds.

The idea is that AR data and graphics can complement match broadcasts, not distract viewers. That's why LaLiga has to really balance its presentation, while also thinking about the best way to present its data.

LaLiga admits to spending about two months from April to June to develop technologies that can help improve the show during the pandemic season. Without any desire to compare with football leagues in other countries, LaLiga is also optimistic that it can become something like this trendsetter related to broadcasting football matches during this pandemic.