The European Tour’s Innovation Hub with Tata Communications moved to the next stage at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, as alugha - the winners chosen earlier this year - demonstrated their proof of concept.
The multilingualization process provided by alugha was used during tournament previews with the leading players on the Race to Dubai to trial the delivery of multiple languages for both digital and broadcast audiences. The solution can automatically translate text to transcripts and transcribes to multiple languages using AI technology.
The first ever Innovation Hub with Tata Communications was launched to develop creative new solutions and concepts to enhance the game of golf, and the final Rolex Series event of the 2020 season at Jumeriah Golf Estates provided the perfect opportunity to trial alugha’s solution.
Their winning idea aims to overcome the complexities of managing multilingual video content for the European Tour’s diverse golf audiences, whilst being undertaken remotely and using AI processing to create efficiency in media production.
It creates an interlocked toolkit for the complete multilingualization process - from transcription over multi-audio-track voiceovers to video hosting and distribution. It is all about breaking through language barriers to enable more effective engagement with a global golfing fan base.
Michael Cole, Chief Technology Officer at the European Tour, said: “It was very exciting to see the Innovation Hub with Tata Communications come to fruition as the 2020 Race to Dubai reached its conclusion. The winning solution from alugha has tremendous potential to bring audiences closer to the Tour and enhance the offering to our increasingly digitally savvy audiences, and I was delighted to see the proof of concept in a practical setting during the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. I congratulate alugha once again for catching our imagination during this process, which has been fascinating to be involved in from start to finish.”
Dhaval Ponda, Global Head, Media & Entertainment, Tata Communications, said “I’m very excited to see alugha reach the proof of conceptstage. They clearly stood out for their inventive use of technology, showcasing through the Innovation Hub, their unique approach to taking the European Tour to wider audiences and driving deeper fan engagement. As sporting events explore new formats while catering to largely digital and broadcast audiences, alugha has the potential to elevate the viewing experience for golf fans across the globe. We are honoured to be part of this exciting milestone with European Tour.”
Bernd Korz, CEO of alugha said: "Seeing the Innovation Hub and our product reach the proof of concept stage at the European Tour’s end of season event fills us with pride and joy. Since the beginning of the Innovation Hub, we believed alugha would be a perfect fit for the European tour and have the potential to help grow their international audience. We are thrilled to continue this journey and keep improving alugha for even better results in workflow with the aim of enhancing the viewing experience for the golf community around the globe."
More than 70 start-ups from around the world applied to be part of the European Tour Innovation Hub with Tata Communications, which was launched at the 2019 BMW PGA Championship.
The objective was to find an idea that could be developed commercially with support from the Tour’s business development team, venture capital (VC) firms and Tata Communications.
The final three contenders - alugha, EyeCandyLab and Sparx – then attended a three-day workshop, including an evaluation and learning process with representatives from the venture capital community in London to analyse their products, before being quizzed by a panel of experts comprising the European Tour’s Chief Content Officer Rufus Hack, Chief Technology Officer Michael Cole, and Dhaval Ponda, Global Head of Media and Entertainment at Tata Communications.
Click here find out more about the European Tour’s Innovation Hub with Tata Communications, and look back on the journey so far.
