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There is an information gap between sighted individuals and visually impaired individuals who cannot see the race in front of them, even though they are in the same venue.

Posted November 29, 2023
How Will AI Commentary Change Sports Viewing? "Voice Watch"

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This issue was raised by Kazuhiro Shimura, Creative Director at Dentsu Inc. When asked, "Would you like to go watch motorsports?", one visually impaired person reportedly answered, "Even if I went to the venue, I wouldn't really understand what was happening right in front of me." In response, Shimura's team developed "Voice Watch," an AI that generates real-time sports commentary. This AI, trained on past race commentaries by announcers, generates natural, immersive commentary based on information like race car positions, lap times, and time gaps. It was well-received by visually impaired test listeners, and plans are to expand its use beyond motorsports. In Mr. Shimura's words, "We aim to create a society where visually impaired people aren't left out of the excitement of watching sports, and where people with and without visual impairments can enjoy watching together," we saw the future of an inclusive society.