Sweden’s head coach becomes world’s first virtual sports anchor for the Ice Hockey World Championship
A digital clone of Rikard Grönborg will broadcast around the clock
Sweden’s national coach Rikard Grönborg will, as the first ice hockey head coach ever, be transformed into a virtual sports anchor during the Ice Hockey World Championship in Bratislava and report live throughout the tournament. In the show ”Grönborg Live” he will report around the clock during the whole tournament. There will be news, interviews, entertainment and lots of unique statistics from this year’s tournament, as well as, previous championships. Rikard Grönborg will, as the world’s first virtual sports anchor, begin his marathon broadcast on May 10 and stay on until Sunday, May 26, when the final is played.
With the help of advanced 3D and voice technology, the Swedish hockey team’s main sponsor Svenska Spel, have developed a virtual copy of the head coach Rikard Grönborg. The virtual sports anchor, who looks and sounds like the real Rikard Grönborg, will be the first of its kind in the world and, with the help of artificial intelligence, report a total of 408 hours during the tournament. “Grönborg Live” will be broadcast on Youtube as a single long marathon broadcast, without a break, throughout the tournament.
– It’s amazing to be able to offer hockey fans all over the world all they didn’t know they needed to know about the World Championship. To do this together with the Swedish team and Rikard Grönborg in their hunt for a third consecutive gold medal makes it even better. We hope to offer something new and unique that will make this championship extra memorable, says Eva Evesjö, Brand Manager Oddset at Svenska Spel Sport & Casino.
To help the virtual copy mimic the real Rikard Grönborg as much as possible, the Swedish head coach needed to spend several hours in front of the camera. But it has been worth it.
– The support from our Swedish fans during the World Championship is invaluable and something that I and the whole team are extremely grateful for. Me myself will be busy coaching the team during the World Championship but together with Oddset and Svenska Spel, we will give the fans some great ice hockey talk. Svenska Spel is an important partner to the team, and it’s been fun making this happen together with them, says (the real) Rikard Grönborg.
World’s first virtual sports anchor
”Grönborg Live” is the first time a Swedish virtual news anchor sees the light of day. Last winter, China’s state news agency launched the world’s first virtual news anchor, but this is the first time a virtual anchor dedicated to only reporting sports news has been introduced to the world. The digital clone of Rikard Grönborg thus becomes Sweden’s first virtual news anchor and the world’s first virtual sports anchor.
– This is a new chapter in TV history. “Grönborg Live” is a unique experiment in an exciting area where nobody really knows what will happen in the future. Maybe we’ll see more virtual anchors after this? Regardless, everyone will remember that Rikard Grönborg not only was Sweden’s first virtual news anchor, but the world’s first virtual sports anchor, Eva Evesjö, Brand Manager Oddset at Svenska Spel Sport & Casino.
– Somebody has to be the first, says Rikard Grönborg.
Artificial intelligence predicts the World Championship gold
Many hours have been spent developing the virtual version of Rikard Grönborg. Using advanced technology, the head coach’s look, motion patterns and voice have been analyzed to create a virtual copy that sounds, looks, and moves like the original. Before the World Championship tournament, the virtual news anchor has been fed with 20 years of hockey data. The anchor uses artificial intelligence to not only analyze the data, but also to update and optimize its own method to predict the results of the matches. During the course of the tournament, the artificial intelligence will therefore use the results in the matches to learn and become better at drawing conclusions and making predictions. According to AI’s analysis, Canada will win the World Championship gold, beating Sweden in the final game. Switzerland will receive the bronze medal after a win against Finland.
– We’re still going for the gold. Even though the AI has analyzed 20 years of ice hockey data to make it’s prediction, it all still comes down to how we perform on the ice. Me and the team will do everything we can to prove the AI wrong, says Rikard Grönborg.
For more information, contact.
Jonas Nilsson, PR-manager Svenska Spel Sport & Casino
jonas.nilsson@svenskaspel.se, 010 120 77 74
