SailGP, the international sailing series that last weekend (July 13 and 14) completed its fourth season, makes a point of having technological innovation front and center. Since its launch in early 2019, the brainchild of Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts has continually led the way in terms of new technologies across broadcast, content creation, and event production. Possibly the foremost technological step forward has been the growth over the last year of LiveLine FX, SailGP’s in-house on-screen graphics and visuals package. That solution - remote-produced at SailGP’s studios in west London - is provided by the series to its array of broadcast partners and rights-holders (across 212 territories), to enable viewers to see key facts behind the action, making what can be a complex sport easier to understand. The platfom collects data from the 125 sensors positioned on each of the 10 teams’ F50 catamarans, enabling graphics such as the speed and direction of each boat, weather conditions, and the sea current, to be displayed as graphical overlays on top of the on-screen depiction of the racecourse. The data is made available through a combination of the action being shot from an overhead helicopter, accurate GPS tracking systems, and the Oracle Cloud (Oracle is a significant commercial partner of SailGP). SailGP estimates that Oracle currently handles around eight billion data requests for them every day. Now, SailGP and LiveLine are looking to spread their wings and take the technology to other sports properties. In May, the international series unveiled that LiveLine FX would be - for the first time - made available for use in other competitions and sports. SailGP feels the technology will be of use across a range of out-of-stadium sports, including (but not limited to) cycling, horse racing, and surfing, while any mass participation event also offers possibilities. With the series’ fourth season having come to a close in San Francisco this past weekend, and with the calendar for the fifth campaign having been unveiled earlier this month, Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) sat down with two of the key figures behind LiveLine FX’s development and implementation. Warren Jones, SailGP’s chief technology officer, and Melissa Lawton, the series’ chief content officer (and also head of the SailGP Productions wing), assess the benefits of the technology for SailGP, how it has developed over the last few months, and how its implementation reflects on the overall attitude towards new technology there. The pair start by explaining the overall purpose of LiveLine, with Jones saying that the platform is an example of SailGP’s hierarchy wanting “to demystify the sport … We need a visual guide, and this technology provides that. “It gives viewers the ability to see clearly what is going on around the racecourse, in terms of simple things like where the boundary is, for example. “This adds to commentary - everyone wants to know a little bit more about what’s really going on, we can see the pictures but we want more. We aim to show that with graphics. “When you’ve got lots of athletes/horses/cars bundled together, it can be hard to work out what’s really going on. For us to be able to pinpoint specific athletes and give information on them, it helps viewers understand the sport a little bit better.” While the pair both admire the technology and graphical work showcased by a range of other sporting properties, such as Formula 1 by pay-TV broadcaster Sky, and have said the technology does take inspiration from other properties, they point out that the unique nature of trying to capture the action from a sailing race creates unique issues and challenges to be overcome. For example, the fact that all the races are covered primarily through footage from a helicopter means all the graphics essentially need to be put up from an overhead position. Lawton, who works closely with Jones and the LiveLine team on the overall implementation of the technology, adds: “It’s all about removing the hurdles of understanding, if we couldn’t tell people who was winning I don’t think anyone would watch. “Not everyone watches sport with good commentary - these graphics enable new viewers to understand what’s really going on, and then to break apart the noteworthy statistics.” She adds that “we use these graphics all the time, outdoors, in good and bad weather, with delays - in every set of conditions possible.” Indeed, all graphics that appear on-screen during a SailGP broadcast are the result of LiveLine technology, both 2D images and augmented reality constructs. In terms of how and where the technology could be implemented across other sports, Jones says: “We’d like to have conversations with anyone who thinks they need graphics overlaid or graphic advertising. We've had multiple conversations with sports federations already. “We can then work out what the client would like and whether we can make that available - if it’s not at the moment, we can look to build technology and make that happen. “We can either come on-site or do it remotely, which a lot of sports are now turning to. Everything for SailGP is done remotely from London, that’s where we produce the graphics. “At SailGP we want to be sustainable and not travel around the world if we don’t need to.” That ethos also stretches to the number of people required to run the technology and graphics - the duo explain that only one member of staff is required to monitor teams’ communications for example, thanks to the assistance of the AI solution. LiveLine is also a constantly evolving product - there have been multiple releases of different graphics types over the last few months, for example, as Jones and his team adapt to what works well and what needs improvement. Jones adds that, in terms of the relationship with Oracle, “their ability to work with us on this and handle the number of data requests we send is seamless.” He also feels that working out which parts of the technology would most benefit specific sports “is the fun part … many properties simply don’t know this type of graphical support is available.” In essence, Jones explains that LiveLine is an in-house company that the series is now looking to use to help other industries. He adds: "These conversations could be very quick, or they could be very lengthy - we like a challenge, we like being able to prove people wrong in terms of the technology we can develop.” The chief technology officer believes that there are already elements of what LiveLine offers for SailGP that could be taken to other sports right now, including the GPS tracking, image recognition, and data workflow. Lawton, meanwhile, points out that the technology would suit “any organization that wants visually stunning, meaningful overlay on their sport, that also brings in money.” She adds that a European broadcaster assessing the series’ graphics recently “was staggered by how calm and organized the process is - it feels next-gen. “Organizations are now asking - how is this happening and how can we get hold of it?” She says, in terms of specific sports it could be used for “any sport in which action is being filmed from a distance and where more than one athlete is in vision, this technology allows us to distinguish between them… “Also, for any sport with judges could provide information on how fast the athlete or horse is going when crossing the line, that’s an easy one for us. “Then, for cycling, possible we could display information on gear changes as they take place, rider energy levels - it would work well in road racing given that’s also covered from a helicopter." SailGP already provides LiveLine FX graphics and visual effects as part of its content offering when it enters into broadcast deals, a model that is priced into these agreements. The graphics can be translated using AI into every local language necessary, while the radio communications amongst the teams - which SailGP also monitors - are transcribed in localized languages and then displayed on-screen for viewers in each territory. The series recently pointed to an increase in its average broadcast audience of over 300% in the last year as evidence that LiveLine technology has been popular with viewers. Intriguingly, LiveLine FX can also provide extra value for sponsors, the executive duo say. As Jones explains, the names and logos of sponsors can be made to appear on-screen, with the brands changing up depending on which territory the broadcast is appearing in, and which language is being utilized. For example, the Emirates airline (a major sponsor of the sailing series through various elements) could be given greater prominence in its home country of Dubai, while the opportunity is also there for its other premium partners such as Rolex, Oracle, Mubadala, and Cognizent. Jones states: “We’ve got some great partners within SailGP and want to advertise them through this technology, through a sponsorship element and putting their logos on the field of play. “We can also change the frequency levels at which their logos appear.” These changes can be made - again, because of the technology involved - without a significant manual workload. Both Jones and Lawton see LiveLine - its consistent evolution and day-to-day usage - as emblematic of the series’ overall attempts to consistently provide cutting-edge technology through its broadcasts and other content. The chief content officer explains that “while innovation is really high on our agenda, we don’t do it for its own sake - we do it because sailing is a really cool sport and we want to open the doors for more people to enjoy and understand it. “We have a mission, and many of these innovations help us work towards this.” For example, ahead of the season-ending San Francisco race last weekend, the series launched new AR and Virtual Reality features on the SailGP mobile app - with these additions also powered by LiveLine. Essentially, these additions mean fans watching the action from now on will be able to experience the racing in 3D by pointing their device towards the action, while the app will also allow users to experience an AR tour of each F50 catamaran, and to post an accompanying selfie on social media. The new VR feature, meanwhile, provides a 360-degree view of the racecourse, as well as other additions (including graphical overlays and boat tracking). Jones sums up: “With Melissa asking for a lot more, there’s a lot we’re working on in terms of AI -  and there’s a lot in terms of AI - we’ve only just scratched the surface of that, how we can get things to air quicker, how we can be more efficient and control our costs, so stay tuned.” And Lawton explains: “There’s a really long list of elements which Russell [Coutts] wants added in, there’s so much more, which we’ll be getting round to when we can. We’re still definitely working towards the finish line."