Many reports show this live sports watching has was rejected for some sports, especially among Gen Z. To solve this, leagues and broadcasters are trying to make sports more attractive to fans with different kinds of viewing experiences, statistics and analytics.
One way to do this is by using volumetric video creation that allows users to view the game from various angles, giving an inside-the-game experience. The underlying technology uses numerous cameras to capture the footage in 3D so that everyone can see it from various angles. based in Canada Regional Laboratories wants to make this technology affordable for leagues and teams so it can reach more broadcasters and fans.
Peripheral Labs was founded by Kelvin Cui and Mustafa Khan in 2024. Both have worked on driverless cars for the University of Toronto team, winning several trophies. Khan has worked as a researcher at Huawei and Cui has experience in chassis systems as a software engineer at Tesla.
“Both Mustafa and I are huge sports fans. He was a huge Arsenal fan and I grew up watching the Vancouver Canucks since I was seven. When Mustafa showed me his research on 3D reconstruction, my brain said it would be cool to watch hockey like that [in a free-flowing, multi-angle way]. That’s how we started Peripheral Labs,” Cui told TechCrunch.
The company said the concept of volume production is not new. But with new models of artificial intelligence and advances in computer vision, its founders are confident the technology is ready for the masses.
The duo uses their experience with self-driving cars to apply concepts of robotics perception and 3D vision to 3D video reconstruction in sports. This system can reduce the camera requirement from over 100 to just 32, helping to reduce costs and operating expenses, according to Cui and Khan. The startup aims to keep hardware costs as low as possible for teams and broadcasters and sign multi-year contracts for its platform.
The software platform will bring player biomechanical data and statistics for teams and leagues using its own sensor stack, which is similar to the sensors in self-driving cars that capture the scene with depth. It will enable new ways of viewing the project for broadcasters and fans using photorealistic 3D reconstruction technology. For example, if fans wanted to watch only the player with the ball, they could do so. They can also freeze a moment in the game to see different angles of a foul or a critical moment in the game.
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“While we work with off-the-shelf cameras, the way we package it with our robotics and ML expertise is what gives us an edge both in terms of platforms and scaling from small training areas to large football and soccer fields,” Cui said.
On the software side, the platform said it can observe different joints, including the movements of players’ fingers, to measure flex. For example, in the above video of two people playing football (soccer), the system measures the bending of the knees and ankles. This could give coaches more insight into a player’s body positioning and flexibility and help them improve.
The startup raised a $3.6 million round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Daybreak Capital, Entrepreneurs First and Transpose Platform.
Joe Ros, a partner at Entrepreneurs First, noted that the fund was surprised by how big a following the founders and their autonomous driving team have at the University of Toronto. He noted that investors are often reluctant to invest in sports-related startups, but Peripheral Labs is also an entertainment play.
“Their ultimate viewer is the consumer, and their demand for sports content is evergreen, not cyclical. With Peripheral, the new standard for that consumption will be immersive, volumetric video. And the work they’re doing now in sports will give them the data, technology and development moat to be the only person in the market to be able to enable it,” he told TechCrunch.
Peripheral Labs said the startup was selective about the VCs they brought in, which could help in areas as diverse as product development and go-to-market advice. The company has 10 engineers on staff and aims to increase the number of employees with a focus on platform and hardware development to reduce costs for the company, reduce system latency and also increase the resolution of 3D reconstruction.
The startup hasn’t made any public announcements about the partners it’s working with, but it said it’s in conversation with several teams and leagues in North America. The company competes with other startups such as Arcturus Studios in volumetric capture for sports.
