NBA announces plan to use Microsoft Teams

[zeusthemoose]

Summary

 Following Microsoft’s announcement of the addition of Together Mode to Microsoft teams, the NBA has announced that they will incorporate Microsoft teams into their stadiums to make it more like a game before quarantine.
 Together Mode is a new part of Microsoft Teams which uses ai to cut out the participants bodies and place everyone on one background. It can be used to simulate being in a classroom, meeting room, or in this case, a stadium.

 Stadiums will be getting 17 foot tall lcd screens placed on three sides which can show up to 300 fans. There will be moderators to ensure that everyone follows the rules and is not disruptive.

 In addition to Microsoft Teams being added, the NBA has said that they will be increasing the number of camera angles covered to ensure that people get the most immersive experience possibly.

 As of now, I do not believe they have said who can/how you can become one of the people in the meeting.

 

 

Quotes

Quote

 

And today, in partnership with the NBA, we are excited to announce a reimagined fan experience powered by a new feature in Microsoft Teams called Together mode. Together mode uses AI segmentation technology to bring people together into a shared background like a conference room, coffee shop, or arena. Using scientific principles of cognition and social perception, Together mode is more than a virtual background—it makes being together virtually actually feel like being together in-person. It’s easy to maintain natural eye contact, for instance, or register fellow participants’ emotions as they react to what’s happening—whether it’s a meeting announcement, a class presentation, or the sight of a favorite NBA player about to score a three-pointer.

 

Starting July 30, the NBA will outfit each game court with 17-foot-tall LED screens that wrap three sides of the arena. These “stands” will be populated with more than 300 cheering fans who will join the game using Together mode in Teams. Alongside a view of their fellow fans, participants can watch a live feed of the game right within Teams.

(Microsoft Announcement)

 

My thoughts

 As someone who really doesn’t watch or participate in sports, this isn’t a big thing to me. However, i do find it nice that they were able to find someway to immerse the fans.
 I am very interested in Together Mode and I believe it will become the next big feature that video chatting platforms will be adding for use during this time.

 

Sources

 Microsoft Announcement

 The Verge

[Spotty]

7 minutes ago, zeusthemoose said:

 Together Mode is a new part of Microsoft Teams which uses ai to cut out the participants bodies and place everyone on one background. It can be used to simulate being in a classroom, meeting room, or in this case, a stadium.

Stadiums will be getting 17 foot tall lcd screens placed on three sides which can show up to 300 fans. There will be moderators to ensure that everyone follows the rules and is not disruptive.

I give it until the end of the first quarter before a drunk sports fan virtually streaks by flashing his ass to the webcam.

[LAwLz]

I wonder how much Microsoft pays for all these sports partnerships. It's not the first time they team up to get some publicity (I believe it was the NFL last time). 

[divito]

9 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

I wonder how much Microsoft pays for all these sports partnerships. It's not the first time they team up to get some publicity (I believe it was the NFL last time). 

They're already pretty prevalent in the corporate world, it's probably not the same position as it was when it launched.

[bcredeur97]

we use Teams at work. So many bugs.

[Shreyas1]

MS going into sports?

 

 

Hopefully this wont happen again

[ARikozuM]

But they already have NBA 2K21 coming this fall!

[leadeater]

On 7/25/2020 at 5:24 PM, Spotty said:

I give it until the end of the first quarter before a drunk sports fan virtually streaks by flashing his ass to the webcam.

I give it 30 seconds tops.

[Trik'Stari]

So they're going to replace the crowd at games with basically cardboard cutout people, like in older sports games?

[Arika]

this is stupid.

[IAmAndre]

On 7/25/2020 at 10:01 PM, Shreyas1 said:

MS going into sports?

 

 

Hopefully this wont happen again

They are already prevalent in sports. In NFL as it was said before but they also have a partnership with Real Madrid and probably a lot more teams. It's also very likely that a ton of sports staff use Azure and other Microsoft products for their analytics, meetings and stuff.