Sweden Leads the Way in Visualisation Technology

Sweden Leads the Way in Visualisation Technology

STOCKHOLM, June 10/PRNewswire/ --

- Experience a Football Game on TV Like you Were Playing Yourself

Never mind if you haven't been picked for the Euro 2008 football tournament - soon we'll all be able to play like football stars such as the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fredrik Ljungberg.

Using a state-of-the-art visualisation technology developed by researchers at the Royal College of Technology in Stockholm, anyone will be able to pass as a football pro within a few years' time. You'll be able to squeeze past your opponents running down the pitch, or put yourself in the position of the opposing team - all at the same time as the game is being played live on your TV screen.

A research team at the Royal College of Technology (KTH) is developing the visualisation technology which will make it possible to make the traditional two-dimensional TV picture of a football game into an interactive, 3D experience. The game is to become as realistic for the TV viewer as for the player on the pitch.

"It's an entirely new way of watching football. It will be possible to enter the game virtually, to study the players, rotate them, and view and experience the game from new angles," says Stefan Carlsson, professor at the computer science institution at the Royal College of Technology.

"Viewers have never been able to view a football game in this way up until now. Everything happens in real time, while the game is being played," Carlsson adds.

The project is being co-developed with Solna-based firm Tracab which specialises in a world-leading camera-based system that makes it possible to track players and the ball in real time. The technology is already being used during the ongoing Euro 2008 tournament, as well as all Swedish Premier League (Allsvenskan) games, and in recent Champions League matches.

The Royal College of Technology project is one of eight visualisation technology projects run by Swedish universities and organisations to receive sponsorship.

The eight projects will share a total sum of US$85 million earmarked for the investment programme, which includes organisations such as Invest in Sweden Agency, the Knowledge Foundation and others: http://isa.se/templates/News____63546.aspx

Source: Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA)

For further information, please contact: Anna Lagerkvist, Cloudberry Communications, Tel: +46(0)8-551-112-16, Email: anna@cloudberry.se; Stefan Carlsson, Professor of computer science, Royal College of Technology, Tel: +46(0)8-790-84-32, Email: stefanc@csc.kth.se

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Profile: International Entertainment