PhotoShelter today announced its game-changing artificial intelligence solution for creative teams, complete with one-of-a-kind athlete recognition technology. During their 16 day Championship Series, the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) returns to the field as the first organization to use this cutting-edge technology to move images from the sidelines out to fans in real time.
PhotoShelter’s collection of AI tools, enabled by Miro AI, takes the PLL’s real-time visual content workflow to the next level with end-to-end automation. As soon as a photographer captures a moment and sends the image to PhotoShelter via FTP, the comprehensive AI solution tags photos with metadata specifically designed for the PLL, including player names, sponsor names, and custom terms for core lacrosse gear like goals, gloves, helmets and sticks. The images are searchable and accessible immediately by any PLL staff member for deployment to the PLL’s many channels for fan engagement.
RosterIQ athlete recognition technology combines both facial recognition and jersey data to automatically identify athletes. Player tagged images are automatically routed from PhotoShelter to players in real time through the Greenfly app – allowing both the league and its players the opportunity to effortlessly engage fans across social channels.
During the first 2 weeks of the tournament, the PLL team has uploaded 20,000 images to PhotoShelter. So far, PhotoShelter AI has identified 40,666 players and more than 18,000 brand marks. The automated workflow allows the PLL to keep up with the demand for content with a smaller-than-usual media team on site.
“The AI recognition of our photos will help us save hundreds of hours tagging and organizing photos, enabling us to share content with our partners, players, and fans faster than ever before,” explained Tyler Steinhardt, Director of Marketing for the Premier Lacrosse League.
The new AI-powered workflow has had a staggering impact on fan engagement. Since the start of Training Camp on July 20, the PLL has performed 2.65M interactions on Instagram – beating out other leagues returning from the sports pause, including the MLS, NWSL, PBR and NASCAR. The AI solution also allows the PLL to distribute content to players faster, leading to a 200% increase in posting by players week over week. On average, players now have a 12.2% engagement rate on Instagram.
“PhotoShelter AI represents a big leap forward in our vision to transform the ways creative people work,” said Andrew Fingerman, CEO of PhotoShelter. “PLL is a cutting-edge new sports organization, and they’ve embraced our technology to drive visual storytelling in real time to new and exciting levels. This is just the first step in our plan to lead a next generation of fully automated content workflow and collaboration capabilities for brands and creative professionals.”
In addition to RosterIQ, PhotoShelter’s suite of AI solutions includes FusionIQ and BrandIQ. FusionIQ pulls together data from three different sources – Google, Microsoft and Amazon – to deliver superior general metadata for tagging a creative team’s visual media assets. BrandIQ identifies brand and sponsor logos, to enable creative teams to quickly search and easily deliver relevant assets to each stakeholder in real time.
Although RosterIQ and BrandIQ are ideal for sports, the overall PhotoShelter AI technology suite is designed for the broadest possible use. It has the capability to recognize any set of objects, from staff members and executives to logos and brand marks. FusionIQ will add value through general metadata for any organization, and custom models can be built and trained to meet the unique needs of any PhotoShelter for Brands client.
