TRANSMIXR at BBC Scotland for IBC Accelerator team Hackathon

IBC Accelerator team Hackathon

TRANSMIXR partners from TUS and TG4 took part in an IBC Accelerator team hackathon hosted by BBC Scotland. Participants included BBC, ITN, Channel 4,  Google, TinkerList, Loopic, SPX Graphics, with remote support from webLyzard Technology and CERTH.

The team explored solutions for live media production, leveraging XR technology, voice control, AI assistants and HTML-based graphics solutions. The two-day event was spent brainstorming and developing PoCs to optimise live production workflows. 

Solutions to integrate studio automation software into an XR spacial control room were explored, as well as connecting webLyzard Technology’s TRANSMIXR dashboard to a live running order, to source breaking news content via an AI assistant.  

A fully automated presenter-led broadcast solution was developed, enabling voice activated event-driven control of a running order, with no technical assistance. This allows a television presenter to read a script and automatically trigger cameras, LED backgrounds, on-screen graphics, lighting, audio, and video inserts, without any technical crew. A solution like this can only be practically implemented, with the knowledge that in the event of a major breaking news story, the crew has the ability to remotely participate in the production, using the XR control room solution. ITN will record a presenter-led broadcast demo from their Channel 4 News Studio in Leeds, using TinkerList’s Cuez automation software and TG4’s voice activation solution, to showcase at IBC2024.

The hackathon also included development of a GPT 4o assistant, and a Google Gemini AI assistant, to enable the production crew to interact with the running order using natural language voice commands and text prompts. This allows the crew to ask questions directly to the script and running order, update content, and trigger events in the automation software. This solution will optimise workflows for the production crew and AI assistants are likely to have a transformative impact on live media production, with our broadcast partners already planning to implement AI solutions in their organisations. 

BBC, Loopic and SPX Graphics developed a modular workflow for content graphics, breaking away from the traditional single-vendor graphics solutions. Their HTML graphics system enables deployment of graphics content across multiple platforms and devices, with a focus on flexibility and responsiveness. 

Our visit to BBC Scotland included a tour of the studios and production control rooms, demos of content sharing solutions between regional studios, automatic translation for regional languages, and the BBC Election graphics system which uses GSAS (Graphical Scalable Asset Service) for distributing graphics, and the ability to render graphics in different aspect ratios and formats to support various display devices and formats. The workflow involves a rundown-based approach with plugins for specific tasks like displaying election results.

Our hosts Ryan McKenna and Morag McIntosh from BBC Scotland could not have been more welcoming and generous with their time. The team have hugely benefited from the collaborative approach of the IBC Accelerator programme, which fosters innovation and knowledge sharing between broadcasters and technology partners. We look forward to showcasing our PoCs at the RAI, Amsterdam during IBC2024, September 13th-16th.

Authors:Grace Dinan from Technological University of the Shannon (TUS)

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