MultiCasting.io Lets Fans Contribute to the Broadcast in Real Time

Teamed with Microsoft AI, the technology manages thousands of camera feeds

If MultiCasting.io Founder/Chief Innovations Officer Nematolah Kashanian had his way, every fan at a sports event would engage interactively in a way like never before — with each one contributing to the broadcast in real time. It’s the definition of direct user-generated content that bypasses social-media platforms.

Of course, now you’re probably thinking: “I can manage 10, 15, 20, maybe 30 camera feeds (plus replays), but thousands? No, thank you.”

MultiCasting.io’s Nematolah Kashanian: “This technology gives leagues and teams a unique way to add fan engagement. Fans think, ‘I am part of the broadcast,’ and they are.”

But it isn’t as complicated as it might seem. Fans would either download the league’s or the team’s app integrated with MultiCasting.io technology or go to a webpage on their smartphone. That gets the video into the system, but it comes with a great deal of information. And, instead of a direct-to-consumer play, Kashanian would rather integrate with a league or venue app.

“We’re asked all the time how we can handle hundreds or even thousands of feeds,” he says. “We’ve built a management console that aggregates all of the fan feeds into one player. But we use small grids to aggregate the shots based on information we know about the fan’s signal: we know what section of the venue they are in; that’s one aggregation point. Plus, if they’re a fan of a specific player, that group gets aggregated as well with their location.”

With this level of knowledge, the management-console operator knows positioning and who on the field of play is being followed.

As an example, let’s say that Player X scores a great 3-point shot. In the same way that replay operators try to sell their shots to the director, so does the MultiCasting.io management-console operator. But they’re not selling 100 or 1,000 shots; they’re selling a shot that has that 3-pointer from 10 angles played simultaneously and timed perfectly. Think of it as a reverse-angle replay, but it’s more than just that one angle; it’s 10.

“This technology gives leagues and teams a unique way to add fan engagement,” says Kashanian. “Fans think, ‘I’m part of the broadcast,’ and they are. A production has 15 or so cameras but now can have every fan with their phone as a broadcast source.”

Kashanian and MultiCasting.io has done plenty of work already. But they’re under strict NDA about what they can talk about. in March, the team’s real-time technology was used to support a deployment showcasing the power of Comcast Business’s private 5G connectivity at THE PLAYERS Championship.

“Organizations use the technology slightly differently,” Kashanian explains. “Comcast Business used our real-time technology to illustrate the power of their private 5G network with four strategically placed mobile devices on the course.”

The Advantage of AI

“Our goal,” he says, “is to have a Reverse Highlights Engine by the end of the year. An operator using our console would hit a ‘highlights’ button, which takes the last 15 seconds from all the live streaming fan cameras and creates a single montage. This is where our partnership with Microsoft’s AI technology, along with other companies, comes in. AI looks at all the shots and delivers the best 10 to create the montage. That’s our main goal. Plus, AI tags the content and makes it searchable.”

It should come as no surprise that pulling this off would involve AI, and Kashanian and his team are taking full advantage of the partnership with Microsoft.

“Microsoft’s AI platform enables us to quickly test unique use cases for real-time video streaming,” he notes, “enabling us to identify players, plays, and actions so that video can be tagged, as well as helping train custom AI models for finding the best video quality and presentation. In the long term, we want to use their generative-AI capabilities to enhance our UGC content-creation tools and bring a montage of highlightable moments together.”

While MultiCasting.io learns how to use Microsoft’s AI to its best advantage, Microsoft learns about how its AI can be used for sports.

“Through the use of Microsoft’s AI,” says Jon Flynn, director, Microsoft Sports, “MultiCasting.io is transforming how the world experiences sports streaming. From real-time analysis to enhancing user-generated content, together we are setting new standards for engagement and quality in sports broadcasting.”

There’s one other benefit that this technology brings, according to Kashanian. “You have the combination of the rightsholder and the league, which ultimately owns the content and can start licensing the user-generated content. We pull, they license. Just imagine having that once-in-a-lifetime shot but from a fan who provided it from a unique perspective.”

He notes that the self-funded startup is very careful in building the product and spends very little time selling it. But, if MultiCasting.io delivers on its promises, it’s a product that will almost sell itself.