Infosys to bring advanced data analytics, AR-VR to this major tennis event

Homegrown IT services giant Infosys has announced a three-year strategic technology partnership with Roland-Garros (also known as the French Open), the annual tennis Grand Slam event held in Paris.  

According to a statement, the collaboration is aimed at using technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and virtual reality and augmented reality to offer new experiences to tennis fans, players and coaches.

“We’re excited to partner with Roland-Garros to showcase how digital technologies can enhance the boundaries of this tournament by leveraging data, insights and digital experiences,” said Pravin Rao, chief operating officer of Infosys. 

Bernard Giudicelli, president of the French Tennis Federation, further said that Infosys would aid the tournament’s digital transformation objectives.

Infosys said it would offer Roland-Garros a reimagined user interface for fans to follow live scores and get match analysis. The user interface will be powered by data and analytics models. The tool will be available on the official Roland-Garros website during the two-week-long tournament which is held in May, the statement added. 

Another offering will be providing players and coaches a digital platform to study and analyse their game throughout the tournament. The platform is said to be powered by rich data sciences and AI-led video analytics to help players strategise for upcoming matches and enable better decision-making. 

Roland-Garros further said that it will provide virtual augmented reality experiences at the Infosys fan zone. The VR-AR enabled experience will help fans get a feel of stepping onto the Philippe-Chatrier court (centre court) and playing tennis on the clay surface. 

Infosys has engaged with the tennis world in the past as well. In 2015, Infosys partnered with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) -- the governing body of men’s tennis -- to provide data-analytics-backed insights during tournaments.

Infosys had also released the “Second Screen” software for ATP coaches and players in 2017. The app assessed the strengths and weaknesses of players, thus enabling a better review of strategies and performances. The feature was built in under three months using Infosys’ AI platform, Infosys Nia, back in 2017.