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An official release informs that the company is partnering with
BrandTraX, which is leveraging advanced image recognition technology
originally developed by Bell Labs, the R&D division of Lucent Technologies.
Over the past 20 years, television exposure data has been collated
manually. While this will continue to some extent the use of this
technology is a pivotal moment for the sports research business,
states the release.
Requiring relatively little manual input, the recognition software
measures the exposure time a brand receives during a sports broadcast.
Whilst this sounds relatively simple, the technology is groundbreaking
and can produce analysis currently not possible to capture using
a manual process. Bell Labs first developed this technology to detect
and extract data from documents such as financial statements and
faxes. This image recognition technology has proven to be applicable
across a range of disciplines and industries. Bell Labs has licensed
this technology to BrandTrax and is providing R&D services to them
to meet the evolving demands of its the sports media measurement
business.
TNSSport's managing director Mark Cornish says, "Undoubtedly this
will have a significant impact upon the industry. The technology
is such that it improves both the accuracy and type of data we can
extract from sports broadcasts, ultimately allowing us to precisely
and consistently measure value. For years the industry has demanded
that sponsors’ television exposure should be sold like advertising
– but this is difficult due to accurate measurement. This new technology
now makes this a distinct possibility".
BrandTraX's president Dick Gold adds, "The demand for accurate
electronic tracking of sponsors’ signage is mandatory for valuation
of exposure. As such, our use of Bell Labs’ advanced image recognition
software is the most efficient technology to electronically advance
a currently manual tracking system to a fully computerised solution."
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