The Austrian Disabled Sports Association (OBSV) has announced the exciting innovation to be launched through the wheelchair basketball league in Austria.
The new digital system is very modern and includes a new type of AI camera system that identifies the flow of the game, tracks highlights and creates replays without human intervention. The the new live streaming service offers a mobile camera system and a mobile team to enable all sports activities and competitions of the ÖBSV to be recorded in the media across Austria. In addition, an editor can produce text content similar to that of a news agency. This means that both video and text content can be delivered to the print media and other internet formats. It was brought into being by Social City Wien.
Federal Minister Schramböck, spoke enthusiastically about the digital platform:
“Participation and inclusion through digitization is a very central point for me as digitization minister. The new inclusive digital media platform is a great showcase project that enables participation in sport and puts disabled sports very much in the media attention. Our Paralympics athletes achieve the unimaginable. Digitization has the power to improve not only the life of an individual person, but also all of our lives for the better.”
The captain of the Austrian national wheelchair basketball team, Matthias Wastian, is also enthusiastic about the new project, he said:
“I believe that active athletes always value visibility and reach. You are happy about every person you reach, be it as a fan or sponsor or another person with disabilities who can be encouraged to become active in health sports. I’m a technical mathematician. As such, I am incredibly enthusiastic about such highly innovative technological solutions.”
Photo (c) Pawel Gruszkiewicz
The innovative production unit will professionally record, process and transmit disabled sports and competitions and leagues. This enables sports events from the area of disabled sports in different digital formats.
City Councillor, Markus Wölbitsch, who would also like to bring the Special Olympics World Summer Games to Vienna in 2031, initiated the project and pushed it forward from the start, he added:
“As a sports spokesman, it is my great concern that we bring something forward to sports in this city and become a sports city again. Disabled sports are also very important. It is my goal that disabled sports move into the centre of society. Sport, especially in a city, not only has a health aspect, but above all an important integration and inclusion aspect. I am very happy to support everything that helps it to develop its full potential.”
The content produced is open to various playback options with the aim being as wide as possible. A content / video platform for disabled sports is to be created in Austria, which enables a wide variety of media to access digital content. This platform is designed as simply as possible so that the media can implement this content in a “copy & paste” process with the least amount of resources. The ORF has already raised awareness of the issue with its disabled sports magazine “Ohne Grenzen”. That’s why ORF sports director Hans-Peter Trost was part of the new media platform from the start.
Everything about the 2020/2021 wheelchair basketball league
Main Photo credit – OBSV / Markus Frühmann
