Enterprise IT vendor IBM is supporting Australian Open 2014 with the latest technologies including mobile apps, social media analytics, cloud computing, etc.
IBM technologies enhance user experience at the Australian Open 2014 which is underway.
The official mobile apps for the Australian Open deliver easy functionality with real-time scores and schedules, comprehensive match and player analysis and Twitter feeds.
New this year is a free iPad app which is the ultimate digital destination enabling fans to follow their favorite players, tweet messages of support from a player’s profile and track player popularity online using IBM social media analytics.
IBM ReturnServe enables tennis fans to experience what it’s like to face the world’s top tennis players.
Based on live match data analyzed by IBM at Rod Laver Arena, fans can face each serve at home, using their computer or at virtual reality locations in Sydney and Melbourne. The aim of the game is to return serves at the same speed as the world’s best players. IBM ReturnServe is hosted on IBM SoftLayer, the company’s cloud computing platform.
Tennis Australia says the association is seeing increased demand from fans around the world for more access and real-time event content. Over the two weeks of the Australian Open last year, more than 15.5 million unique users connected with the tournament online, and almost half of the website views were from mobile devices.
“Each year we aim to enhance the event experience and this year we have worked with our technology partner, IBM, to develop a new iPad app, improve the website and smartphone apps, as well as advance the technology infrastructure behind the scenes,” said Samir Mahir, CIO, Tennis Australia.
Insights and visualisations provided by IBM SlamTracker on the Australian Open website analyse more than eight years of Grand Slam data to identify patterns in player style. New features to SlamTracker for 2014 include streamlined analysis of more fan friendly key turning points in a match, such as aces and winning shots, and a social media sentiment feed that measures the percentage of positive tweets.
IBM predictive cloud analyses multiple data sources in real-time, such as tournament schedule, player popularity, historical data and social media conversations, to predict and automatically allocate the computing power required by the Australian Open website.
