Ottawa, Canada, June 1st 2021 – Camera motion systems have proved to be enormously popular with broadcast studios over the last decade given their ability to produce more dynamic and creative camera shots, as well offering more consistent and repeatable results by reducing human error. Used by major international broadcasters such as the BBC, France's TF1, NBC Universal and China's CCTV, camera motion systems also enable more innovative set design and offer impressive return on investment and workflow efficiencies. Today, Ross is proud to redefine camera motion systems with the launch of Vision[Ai]ry Ft – a facial tracking system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect, locate and track the position of faces within the video stream directly from the camera.

Vision[Ai]ry Ft uses facial positions to drive the pan, tilt and zoom axes of the robotic camera system to maintain the desired framing of the face or faces in the image. This eliminates the need for a camera operator to manually adjust for the position of the subject in the image. Vision[Ai]ry Ft therefore offers significant benefits over more traditional methods of camera operation:

• Consistent Framing – Vision[Ai]ry Ft reduces the burden on camera operators by removing the need for manual correction of camera positions to compensate for day-to-day variations in talent seating position, posture and height.

• Hands-Free Camera Workflow – Framing settings can be saved to templates that can be automatically recalled with robotic presets to provide a hands-free camera workflow when combined with production automation solutions such as OverDrive from Ross.

• Consistent, High-Quality Tracking – Improved quality and consistency thanks to the automatic tracking of the studio talents' on-air movements, providing consistently well-framed images at all times.

Vision[Ai]ry Ft's remarkable AI algorithm can recognize a diverse set of race, gender and age data, and can accurately identify and locate faces as long as at least 50% is visible in the image. The powerful user interface provides a live display of the video feed with detected faces and framing target clearly indicated, along with status info, tracking controls and framing template library. In addition, damping and deadband settings enable the user to tailor the system to the talent in order to maintain optimal framing and tracking while eliminating undesirable movement and overshoot.

Commenting on the new launch, Karen Walker, Vice President of Camera Motion Systems at Ross, points to this positive application of AI in live production. "We've been talking about how AI might be used in live production for a few years now, and I'm delighted to see Ross leading the way with Vision[Ai]ry, which represents an innovative and highly creative solution. Our customers consistently tell us they need to work more efficiently and rationalise their workflows – Vision[Ai]ry Ft meets these challenges head on and holds true to our philosophy of helping drive high impact, high efficiency productions."

For more information on Vision[Ai]ry Ft and Ross Video's range of robotic camera systems, visit our website.