Peripheral Labs taps into self-driving car sensors to bring sports fans right into the game

Multiple reports suggest so watch live sports has rejected for certain sports, especially among Generation Z. To solve this, leagues and broadcasters are trying to make sports more attractive to fans with different types of viewing experiences, statistics and analytics.

One way to do this is to use volumetric video generation that allows users to view the game from different angles, creating an inside-the-video game experience. The core technology uses numerous cameras to capture the images in 3D, so everyone can view it from different points of view. Based in Canada Peripheral laboratories wants to make this technology affordable for leagues and teams so it can reach more broadcasters and fans.

Peripheral Labs was founded in 2024 by Kelvin Cui and Mustafa Khan. Both have worked on self-driving cars for the University of Toronto team and have won several trophies. Khan has worked as a researcher at Huawei and Cui has experience working on chassis systems as a software engineer at Tesla.

“Both Mustafa and I are big sports fans. He is a huge Arsenal fan and I grew up watching the Vancouver Canucks since I was seven. When Mustafa showed me his research into 3D reconstruction, my brain said it would be cool to watch hockey this way. [in a free-flowing, multi-angle way]. This is how we started Peripheral Labs,” Cui said in a conversation with TechCrunch.

The company said the idea of ​​volumetric generation is not new. But with new AI models and advances in computer vision, the founders are confident the technology is ready for the masses.

The duo uses their experience with self-driving cars to apply concepts of robotics perception and 3D vision to the 3D reconstruction of video in sports. This system can reduce camera needs from more than 100 to just 32, reducing costs and operational overhead, Cui and Khan said. The startup aims to keep hardware costs for teams and broadcasters as low as possible and sign multi-year contracts for its platform.

The software platform will provide player biomechanical data and statistics for teams and leagues using its proprietary sensor stack, which is similar to the sensors on self-driving cars that capture the scene with depth. It will enable new ways to control the play viewing experience for broadcasters and fans using photorealistic 3D reconstruction technology. For example, if fans just want to follow the player with the ball, they can do that. They can also freeze a moment in the game to view different angles for a foul or a critical moment in the game.

“Although we work with off-the-shelf cameras, the way we combine them with our experience in robotics and ML gives us an edge, both in terms of platforms and scaling from small practice rooms to large soccer and football stadiums,” said Cui.

On the software side, the platform said it can observe various joints, including players’ finger movements, to measure flexion. For example, in the above video of two people playing soccer, the system measures knee and ankle flexion. This could give coaches more ideas about a player’s body positioning and flexibility, and help them improve.

The startup has raised a $3.6 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Daybreak Capital, Entrepreneurs First and Transpose Platform.

Joe Ros, partner at Entrepreneurs First, noted that the fund was surprised by the strong following the founders and their autonomous driving team have at the University of Toronto. He noted that investors are often hesitant to invest in sports-related startups, but Peripheral Labs is also an entertainment play.

« Their ultimate viewer is the consumer, and their demand for sports content is evergreen and not cyclical. With Peripheral, the new standard for that consumption will be immersive, volumetric video. And the work they are doing now in sports will give them the data, technology and deployment capabilities to be the only person in the market that can make it happen, » he told TechCrunch via email.

Peripheral Labs said the startup was selective about the venture capital funds it raised, which could help in various areas such as product development and go-to-market consulting. The company employs ten engineers and aims to expand its workforce with a focus on platform and hardware development to reduce costs for the company, reduce system latency and also increase the resolution of 3D reconstruction.

The startup has not made any public announcements about the partners it is working with, but says it is in discussions with several teams and leagues in North America. The company competes with other startups such as Arcturus Studios in volumetric recording for sports.