After Ref Cam lights up World Cup, what’s next for Lenovo’s AI tech in football?
Having created one of the runaway television hits of this summer’s Fifa World Cup, Lenovo is plotting to up the AI ante for the women’s version next year in Brazil. In addition to building digital twins for all 1,248 players to enhance semi-automated offside technology for the 2026 finals, labelled “the first AI World Cup”, and rolling out an analytical tool aimed at “democratising football”, the…
After Lenovo's Ref Cam technology became a sensation during this summer's FIFA World Cup, the tech giant is planning to expand its AI capabilities for the women's World Cup in Brazil next year. In addition to the digital twins for all players and the analytical tool to "democratize football," the company aims to bring these innovations into the mainstream football scene.
Lenovo's executive vice-president, Ken Wong, stated that the company is exploring further possibilities for FIFA and intends to make the technology accessible to everyone. The team faced significant pressure, working to reduce the 40-second wait time for broadcast-quality Ref Cam images to just five seconds. Despite the challenges, Lenovo successfully provided close-up views of key moments, such as Lionel Messi's outburst at the referee during Argentina's quarter-final match against Switzerland.
The company's AI technology was also used for the semi-automated offside system, providing an analytics tool and tactical simulator for team strategists called FIFA AI Pro. This platform, based on over 2,000 metrics, was made available to all 48 teams competing in the North American tournament and is now freely accessible to the global football community.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
