As discussed in a previous week's insight, Intel has been eyeing its opening in the Sports Analytics sector for years. With six (6) applications dating back to April 2015, the company has seen little success in the sector, being granted its first patent in late June of 2020. However, it appears Intel may be beginning to find its stride in the sector, securing its second granted patent only five months later.
Its most recent patent, U.S. Patent No. 10,825,197, is titled "Three dimensional position estimation mechanism," and surprisingly enough does exactly what you would imagine. More specifically, the patent focuses on the motion capture of human joints during activity. However, unlike typical methods, it does not require interesting outfits. Instead, it implements AI and neural networks to estimate the 3D position of body parts from a 2D video, and better yet is able to do this for multiple subjects at the same time. Notably, this technology is quite different from that of Intel's last granted patent which detailed a high-tech tracking method for the swing of a cricket bat. However, when taking into account what we know about Intel, this comes as no surprise.
First, Intel is good at AI development. Plain and simple, the company has proven itself through heavy investment and heavier payoffs, generating an estimated $3.8B from AI in 2019. It was only a matter of time before it started applying its strengths in an attempt to capitalize on this rapidly growing market. Second, Intel actually disclosed this technology all the way back in 2019 in a list of innovations it planned to take with it to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics. While the games may have been postponed due to COVID, Intel should still have the opportunity to showcase this new tech when the Games are played in 2021.
That being said, it is still exciting to see Intel and similar companies have success within the Sports Analytics sector. With deep pockets and proven experience in R&D, it will be exciting to see what technologies they can develop to change the way people watch and play sports world-wide.
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