In 1998, Stan Honey co-founded Sportvision to create live tracking of TV sports broadcasts. He left Sportvision in 2004 to navigate for the winning vessel in the Volvo around the world yacht race in 2006. In 2010, he become director of technology for the America?s Cup Event Authority. He is responsible for the TV broadcasts and event technology.
Sportvision?s LiveLine technology puts lines on the screen to show course boundary, distance between boats, path taken by the boats and areas around course markers. Of the three helicopters hovering over the Bay to photograph the sailors, two are equipped with Sportvision equipment that uses GPS technology to calibrate position, roll, pitch, altitude and yaw of the boats. Each boat is equipped with cameras, microphones and GPS equipment.
Sportvision?s technology can show a boat?s speed and identifying information. Virtual lines help viewers see who is winning in a race. Umpires follow the racers in a speedboat, but there are also onshore umpires who can see the live feed. Umpires can instantly replay and analyze incidents.
To help the thousands of visitors crowded on the San Francisco shoreline watch the race big screens have been set up at America?s Cup Village on Marina Green and America?s Cup Park at Pier 27/29. In the interests of saving energy and reducing traffic congestion, attendees are encouraged to use public transportation, walk or bike. Bike parking areas are provided.
I checked out the America?s Cup Official App, available for Apple?s iOS and Google?s Android devices. It tracks the teams, provides live audio coverage, broadcasts news and displays the schedule, which highlights live bands as well as race times. You can watch the America?s Cup on YouTube.
Sportvision technology has enriched viewing of the Super Bowl, Olympic Games, Daytona 500, World Series, US and British Open Golf, NCAA Bowl Championship football and Stanley Cup hockey finals, among other sports events. They have broadcast on major US networks, as well as TV channels in Canada, Australia, Japan and Korea. They cover about 3000 events annually.
