IBM's Watson AI used to help US Open tennis players up their game
By claudenowlin43 on
players are turning to artificial intelligence from IBM’s Watson to up their game on the court.
The tech giant has partnered with the US Tennis Association (USTA) for over 25 years, but this year is the first time players in the tournament, which takes place in Flushing, Queens, will harness IBM’s AI applications to help improve their performance.
Watson is able to ingest hours of footage in a matter of minutes, automatically serving up key points and stats so that coaches can create detailed reports for players to use in subsequent matches.
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Madison Keys (left), the US Open runner-up last year, Futter für kleine Säugetiere is one of several players taking advantage of Watson in the hopes that it will help her take home her first Grand Slam trophy
It also creates an indexed database of player footage that they can continuously draw from.
Madison Keys, the US Open runner-up last year, is just one of several players taking advantage of the technology in the hopes that it will help her take home her first Grand Slam trophy.
‘That data gets very specific whether it is where someone is hitting the ball on the serve and co
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The US Open app is powered by the IBM Cloud.The app includes tools like SlamTracker, where US Open attendees can quickly view a player’s progress against an opponent
‘Being able to have that information for matches is incredibly valuable.
‘…The unique thing is now linking it to practice so you can be ahead of it, what to do and what I need to work on to make it more difficult for an opponent to read me,’ she added.
The player development tools use the same technology that powers IBM’s AI Highlights.
Watson is able to look at footage from US Open matches – a complex task, given that up to 18 matches may be occurring at one time – to deliver ‘highlight-worthy moments.’
US Open tennis players are turning to artificial intelligence from IBM’s Watson to up their game on the court.Watson analyzes hours of footage for coaches to create detailed player reports
It uses cognitive algorithms to pick out points and shots in the match that are exciting.
It looks for cues including player gestures (such as pumping a fist in the air) and crowd noise, as well as basic elements of the game, like game points, set points and match points.
Watson’s AI Highlights were also used to compile the best moments from Wimbledon earlier this year.
Now, coaches are harnessing those tools to evaluate players and build scouting reports, said Martin Blackman, general manager of player development for USTA.
‘Analyzing footage of previous matches is normally very time-intensive, involving many hours of manual ‘match-tagging,” Blackman said in a statement.
The player development tools use the same tech that powers IBM’s AI Highlights.Watson can look at footage from US Open matches and deliver ‘highlight-worthy moments’
‘Video tagging that used to take hours can now take Watson minutes to execute.’
Watson also makes an appearance in the US Open app utilized by the tournament’s approximately 700,000 fans.
A ‘virtual concierge’ lets users communicate with an AI-powered chatbot, which can deliver responses to commonly asked questions using natural language processing.
It can help them navigate around the US Open’s sprawling grounds by responding to questions about scoring, schedules, transportation and restaurants, among other things.
The US Open began on August 21st and runs through September 9th.
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