The US Open used one of the first solutions available through IBM Watson Media - Cognitive Highlights . Developed at IBM Research with IBM iX , Cognitive Highlights can identify the match ’ s most important moments by analysing the statistical tennis data , sounds from the crowd and the reactions of a player using both action and facial expression recognition . The system then ranks the shots from seven US Open courts and auto-curates the highlights , which simplifies the video production process and ultimately positions the USTA team to scale and accelerate the creation of cognitive highlight packages .

The finished highlight videos were available in four ways :

• Each day , the USTA posted a Highlight of the Day , as ranked by Watson , on its Facebook page .

• Fans who ‘ favourite ’ players on the US Open apps received real-time push notification alerts about those players ’ highlights . Fans on iOS 10 can play the highlights within the lock screen .

• On the player bio page , video highlights were available across all of the USTA ’ s digital platforms .

• Onsite in the player ’ s lounge and in the fanfacing IBM Watson Experience on the plaza near Court 9 .

“ The US Open is packed with so much action across so many courts that even the fastest video team is challenged to keep pace with what ’ s happening ,” said Noah Syken , IBM VP of sports & entertainment partnerships . “ To meet that challenge , Watson is now watching the matches alongside the USTA to help bring fans closer to the best moments across the courts shortly after they happen . We ’ re seeing this technology come to life through tennis , but the entire IBM Watson Media portfolio has the potential to impact many industries .”

Leading up to the US Open , IBM ’ s cognitive highlights technology was tested as a proof of concept at this year ’ s Masters Tournament , and was also served as part of the content production system at Wimbledon . The successful results and positive reception at both events led to the technology being integrated into the new , soon-to-be commercially available , solutions from IBM Watson Media . Beyond the US Open , the solutions to be enabled include :

• Content Search & Discovery : Refined , detailed searches of content down to the scene level based on rich metadata identifying items and context .

• Recommendation Uplift : More informed suggestions of new content for viewers based on a deeper understanding of video content .

• Intelligent Closed Captioning : Speechto-text that can transcribe audio and improve by learning topic-specific terminology .

• Spotlighting : Identification of content – such as violence or adult language – that may require further screening and labelling .

“ An afternoon or evening at the US Open , especially for first time visitors , has really never been easier to enjoy ,” said Kirsten Corio , USTA Managing Director , ticket sales , hospitality and digital strategy . “ Watson ’ s capabilities within the US Open app will help our fans plan ahead , move around the grounds at their own pace , and always know where they are and where they want to go .”

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