McEnroe vs. McEnroe: Tennis Legend Plays Against AI-Powered Avatars of Himself (techcrunch.com) 19
A special ESPN+ show Saturday brought back John McEnroe "to face his ultimate opponent. Himself." TechCrunch reports:
The 45-minute film will showcase how the match was created using a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning, plus five virtual avatars of John McEnroe from pivotal points of his career. The team at [technology/production company] Unit 9 spent a day with John in order to bring the vision to life via full-body scanning, motion capture and Unreal Engine MetaHuman technology (a cloud-based app that creates photorealistic digital humans). The avatar game system will be projected on a hologram particle screen and will be a simulation of gameplay with a system of ball launchers and ball return robots.
When McEnroe sends the ball over the net, the avatar responds to the direction of the real ball. As the avatar swings, a new ball is fired from the ball cannon and then flies through a smokescreen at a precise point in space to make it appear from the avatar's racket position.... Unit 9's team analyzed hours of footage from John's matches throughout his entire career and recorded hundreds of shots, strokes and movements. In total, they recorded 308 shots with over 259 loops and blends to really capture his footwork and well-known shot-making and volleying skills.
The best part about this is the team recorded numerous key phrases and statements so McEnroe could talk smack to his virtual self (and maybe even smash a couple of rackets).
As McEnroe himself pointed out to Forbes.... "I can't lose." But he also sounds like he enjoyed the experience: The most interesting recreation of his playing style to him is the 1979 version of him because professional tennis was all so new to him at the time. "That was the year I may have enjoyed the most on the circuit," he says, "I was just coming up, and on the way up and you are so excited and want to travel the world."
From there, he thinks the 1992 version of himself will offer the other end of his career, after having three kids. He knows that 1984 was the best year on tour, but "I have more interest in the young and old opposed to (1984)."
McEnroe also wanted the sport of tennis to get extra exposure — and that it would be good "If we have a way where we project something different and have some fun with it and peoples can laugh with it..."
Or, as AdWeek quotes McEnroe as saying, "Who wouldn't want an opportunity to literally be able to look back at where you started and celebrate how much you've grown and learned along the way?"
When McEnroe sends the ball over the net, the avatar responds to the direction of the real ball. As the avatar swings, a new ball is fired from the ball cannon and then flies through a smokescreen at a precise point in space to make it appear from the avatar's racket position.... Unit 9's team analyzed hours of footage from John's matches throughout his entire career and recorded hundreds of shots, strokes and movements. In total, they recorded 308 shots with over 259 loops and blends to really capture his footwork and well-known shot-making and volleying skills.
The best part about this is the team recorded numerous key phrases and statements so McEnroe could talk smack to his virtual self (and maybe even smash a couple of rackets).
As McEnroe himself pointed out to Forbes.... "I can't lose." But he also sounds like he enjoyed the experience: The most interesting recreation of his playing style to him is the 1979 version of him because professional tennis was all so new to him at the time. "That was the year I may have enjoyed the most on the circuit," he says, "I was just coming up, and on the way up and you are so excited and want to travel the world."
From there, he thinks the 1992 version of himself will offer the other end of his career, after having three kids. He knows that 1984 was the best year on tour, but "I have more interest in the young and old opposed to (1984)."
McEnroe also wanted the sport of tennis to get extra exposure — and that it would be good "If we have a way where we project something different and have some fun with it and peoples can laugh with it..."
Or, as AdWeek quotes McEnroe as saying, "Who wouldn't want an opportunity to literally be able to look back at where you started and celebrate how much you've grown and learned along the way?"
Will the A.I throw a tantrum if it loses a point? (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
The video shows footage of McEnroe throwing his racquet while in a motion capture suit. So it looks like they are perfecting the tantrum playback.
Re: (Score:2)
Appropriate (Score:3, Funny)
McEnroe was always a bad mannered wanker, so playing with himself fits perfectly.
Re: (Score:2)
Please upvote the above. He was a great tennis player, but I never missed his on-court bad-boy antics once he retired.
The guy put tennis on the map (Score:1)
Him. The Borg. Nasty guy. Conners. Evert. And the best looking tennis player of all time, the one and only, the gorgeous Martina Navratilova. Before them, tennis was for twats. Twits? Twats? Hm.
Re:The guy put tennis on the map (Score:5, Funny)
Cool (Score:2)
I don't care for tennis, but I would love to see some video of this eventually.
old man vs 20 year old? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Have they programmed the AI to whinge and moan like a child when the judge's calls are questionable?
I was quite a fan of tennis when I was a kid, and remember when McEnroe first came on the scene. It was funny to hear Jimmy Connors - who was a few years older, and had his own history of being the petulant child at times - lecturing John McEnroe about how he needed to grow up.
Pizza Hut commercial (Score:2)
https://www.bing.com/videos/se... [bing.com]
so no tennis? (Score:2)
One opponent: Bjorn Borg (Score:2)
The Borg/McEnroe matches were jaw-droppingly good...and with wood rackets no less.
Model Borg soon.
Re: (Score:2)
Once modelled, have the two AIs battle it out against each other.
The models work on the general playing style and capability of the player. They won't account for a bad day, or rain delays causing a loss of "rhythm", or the cheers/jeers of the crowd (or in McEnroe's case, the effect of a bad line judge call). We know how Borg vs McEnroe played out in reality, but it'd be interesting to see who's the better player when all the other variables are removed.
Not to be confused with (Score:2)
McEnroe vs McEnwade which is a *completely* different film -- with less yelling and profanity.
McEnroe is a legend (Score:2)
I didn't see any post asking who is he.
Everyone here seems to be aware of who is he.
That shows how well known he is, even in geek circles.
Re: (Score:2)
You can not be serious (Score:2)