Sport Archives - Hello Future

Live streaming has become increasingly widespread. With the addition of 5G, this service can be dramatically improved at all levels, including image quality, download times, interruptions and lag. Faced with today’s generations’ enthusiasm for live feeds, researchers are now working to adapt live streaming TV so it can be done on the go. The Goal: Lag-Free Live Streams Getting closer to what’s happening live is one of the main challenges in the field of live streaming. Yet, streaming over the Internet using Wi-Fi or 4G still results in a lag of 30, 40 or even 50 seconds on tablets or smartphones. This lag will particularly hit home for any soccer fans who have ever heard their neighbor watching TV and cheering for a goal they haven’t seen yet. It also affects participants in time-limited interactive TV game shows and televised broadcasts by figures of authority in relation to announcements, alerts or disasters, for example. Ensuring service continuity, particularly when faced with high demand, is another challenge of live streaming. At Orange Innovation, researchers are therefore thinking about how they can make improvements in the field of TV streaming on the go, using a combination of 5G, video streaming technologies (multicast, low latency), network bandwidth allocation (network slicing) and edge computing. Their work has primarily focused on mutualizing streams; a key way of saving bandwidth. Dominique Thômé, Product Manager Innovation Data TV, explains that “Unlike unicast technology, which broadcasts streams as many times as there are simultaneous connections, multicast should allow a single stream to be broadcast to thousands of people connected to a large 5G zone. This mutualization prevents bandwidth loss and, consequently, service interruptions from network congestion. Another advantage, which is of great importance to Orange, is that it consumes less energy and therefore contributes to the transition to a low-carbon economy.” Recognizing the Know-How of Carriers Experiments carried out in the Orange laboratory have yielded interesting results. A real-time readjustment of video quality to prevent network saturation resulted in each customer being able to watch TV with only five seconds of lag, confirming the feasibility of 5G live streaming on the go. In fact, faced with ever-increasing volumes, some broadcasters are beginning to turn to carriers to broadcast their TV streams. They need players that are able to transmit this huge amount of data while ensuring optimal quality, in order to avoid any latency problems. Thibaut Mathieu, Director of Innovation for Interactive & Multiscreen Services at Orange says that “Our pioneering approach toward 5G live streaming highlights the valuable role that network carriers play, right at the heart of the system, compared to OTT players (“over the top,” such as the Tech Giants), both in terms of technology and business. We will be able to get involved in data transmission, with optimal mutualization technology that will save money and energy.” These technologies are consistent with Orange’s CSR commitment, both in terms of carbon footprint (lower energy consumption) and inclusion (broadcasting the right information at the right time). More than Just Entertainment The challenge goes far beyond the traditional TV broadcasting market itself. In the context of the health crisis, brands have been quick to understand the value of live streams to generate sales and are starting to venture into “Live Shopping.” Originating from China, this large-scale approach to teleshopping consists of an online event where presenters, influencers or personalities showcase products live to a digital audience who are able to order products or ask questions. Live Shopping is attracting more and more brands around the world. “With hundreds of thousands of people connected at the same time, its large scale will certainly create capacity issues” says Thômé. “This is another case where mutualization will ensure quality of service.”

Networks and IT / Article

How 5G Is Revolutionizing Live Streaming

Live streaming has become increasingly widespread. With the addition of 5G, this service can be dramatically improved at all levels, including image quality, download times, interruptions and lag. Faced with today’s generations’ enthusiasm for live feeds, researchers are now working to adapt live streaming TV so it can be done on the go. The Goal: […]

A group of friends watching a match on TV

Networks and IT / Article

With 5G Video Transmission, Live Truly Does Mean Live

For a long time, streaming live content required complicated infrastructure. To film and broadcast a live report from a foreign country, journalists and camera crew were needed, as well as a production team and a van featuring a satellite antenna. This equipment was used to send back recorded footage to the home country’s media control […]

Digital culture / Article

Blockchain to the rescue of professional sport?

Since the creation of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, many sectors have become interested in blockchain, such as agri-food, healthcare or energy. This distributed and decentralised data storage and transmission technology is also spreading into the world of sport. Beyond the hype, it could help build technical solutions to problems that the industry has had for a […]

Networks and IT / Folder

Vendée Globe: Heading for innovation

The Vendée Globe race is not only an incredible human challenge, it is also an extraordinary technological adventure. And the 2020–2021 edition, won by Yannick Bestaven at the end of January 2021, was no exception. Several innovative ideas were tested, particularly when it came to spectator experience — a key issue for a race with […]

Networks and IT / Article

At the Vendée Globe, interpersonal communication is becoming more immersive than ever

With restrictions in place due to the health crisis, the Vendée Globe reinvented itself this year, transporting spectators as close to the action as possible — right to the pontoons and on deck. The viewing experience has become more interactive and immersive, driven forwards by Orange Events’ expertise in connectivity and knowledge of innovative players […]

Networks and IT / Article

Vendée Globe: Innovative ways to immerse viewers in the heart of the action

How can we reinvent the way we consume and watch great sporting events? On the occasion of Vendée Globe, the prestigious solo race around the world that Orange Events is proud to partner, two unprecedented formats are available to help spectators feel close to the action and the adventurers of the high seas. Live experiences […]

Networks and IT / Article

Networks enable an up-close Vendée Globe experience

While the Vendée Globe is above all the most prestigious solo round-the-world sailing race and an exceptional adventure for the skippers taking part, it is also a tremendous occasion for innovation and an opportunity to reinvent the way large-scale outdoor sporting events are experienced by the general public. Planning under extraordinary circumstances Orange Events, the […]

Internet of things / Article

When the Vendée Globe innovations are exported

On November 8th, 2020, the 33 competitors of the Vendée Globe set sail from the Sables d’Olonne once again to sail round the world, solo, non-stop and without assistance. This unparalleled competition may be boosted by technological innovation, but another phenomenon has also been at work over the past few years: the increasingly sophisticated technology […]

Digital culture / Article

Vendée Globe 2020: innovation at the service of speed

On November 8th, 2020, 33 skippers set sail to tackle the “Everest of the seas”. This year again, the aim is clear: to break speed records. Armel Le Cléac’h, winner of the previous edition, made his round-the-world trip in 74 days. In 2020, the competitors hope to make it in less than 70 days. To achieve […]

Internet of things / Article

With Holosport, sporting events take on a new dimension

Orange, Magic Leap and Emissive have offered a preview of a viewing experience for a spatial computing (augmented/mixed reality) tennis match, featuring 3D reproduction of rallies and projection of additional elements.

Internet of things / Article

Embedded IoT solutions during the Route du Rhum!

Orange is developing solutions capable of collecting information about navigation at sea through a satellite link in order to share it with the public, via a web platform and a chatbot.

Networks and IT / Article

Edge Video Analytics reveals the intelligence of networks of the future

Edge Video Analytics: an experiment conducted by Orange at the Roland-Garros French Open which anticipates the intelligence and power of networks of the future.