PIQ and Canal+ partner to create ultimate broadcasting experience for boxing
A collaboration between PIQ and Canal+ will for the first time bring live stats of fights thanks to sensors worn by boxers.
PIQ, the leading French start-up in sports robotics, has this year expanded its artificial intelligence wearable line to boxing. Wrap this sensor around your wrist and you’ll get detailed and accurate information on the power and speed of your punches.
I ran Everlast and PIQ Boxing through it’s paces recently and found that its like having your own coach monitoring your every swing. With information on how to pack a stronger punch or move your arm a certain way, the device is helpful whether you are just shadow boxing for exercise or someone with years of experience in the sport.
The French outfit has now teamed up with Canal +, a major European broadcaster, to bring these stats to live boxing matches. Television viewers will have access to detailed information such as the speed of punches, the force of punches at impact and the retraction time (quicker retraction times allow for a better snap which means the boxer recovers their guard quicker).
” We are proud to launch this revolution with CANAL+, a network that has continuously innovated in sports broadcasting for the last 30 years,” said Cedric Mangaud, CEO of PIQ Sport Intelligenc
“Our ambition is to change how viewers consume sports events by bringing new data, while allowing them to have access to these innovations themselves in their everyday sports sessions, thus creating a community of involved sports players.”
PIQ Robot Blue technology was developed after studying motions of thousands of boxers. The accelerometer, gyroscope, and an altimeter inside the device collect more than 190,000 points of data per minute. To process this raw data, PIQ taps into GAIA, an artificial intelligence system that can learn to identify and quantify sports performance.
Essential reading: Everlast and PIQ bring artificial intelligence to boxing
The sensors are worn by the boxers during official events and data is displayed at important moments. The first two matches using this technology have already been broadcast.
“Thanks to our collective expertise, and most notably, the access to PIQ’s technology, CANAL+ subscribers will get access to a unique intimate understanding of boxing for the first time, right there on the ring to understand the true dynamics of a figh,” commented Francois-Charles Bideaux, Head of sports production at Canal+.
“This immersive set-up engages viewers well beyond traditional TV broadcasting.”
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