How AI is transforming sport [Q&A]

A new survey from IBM and Morning Consult polled over 18,000 global sports fans to discover the ways in which people follow and engage with their favorite sports are evolving

It finds a growing generational shift in preferences -- including embracing technologies like AI in areas such as augmented reality, recruiting, and fan engagement.

We spoke to Nate Larsen, chief experience officer at TruGolf to discover how sport focused businesses are recognizing the opportunity that exists to harness AI.

BN: Back at IBM Think, TruGolf announced its collaboration with IBM to embed AI into the golf simulator experience. How is watsonx integrated into TruGolf today?

NL: At TruGolf we believe that AI can help give golfers from the amateur through the professional ranks a competitive advantage. Making data actionable in a sport that comes down to every detail is so important. We have embedded IBM watsonx.ai into the TruGolf E6 APEX Golf Simulator Software, revolutionizing the golf simulator experience.

AI-powered guidance, tailored to personal playing style and tendencies, will help golfers improve their chances on subsequent shots and enable them to determine the best approach to each hole based on shot tendencies and data collected by TruGolf's newest launch monitor hardware, APOGEE. All of this will be visualized within the E6 APEX software suite with embedded watsonx, providing a comprehensive and interactive golfing experience.

BN: When did TruGolf decide to use AI and partner with IBM?

NL: We first started talking to IBM in January and had several ideas about how to implement IBM watsonx into our software. We even fast-tracked a demo that provides sports commentary. Before working with IBM, we had some basic AI integrated around ball recognition, but we wanted to enhance the capability and watsonx gave us a lot more power.

Initially, our AI recognized the golf ball launch angle and speed, but the AI was basic. We wanted to take it even further to do club recognition and a lot more in-depth analysis of shots, which requires Generative AI. We also wanted more information about the shots, not just recognition of shots. We were confident right away that IBM would be the ideal partner to help us embed and scale AI across the TruGolf platform.

BN: Similar to other industries, the sport world has a ton of data. How did TruGolf approach using the data to enable watsonx?

NL: Our team at TruGolf had tons of data that we wanted to use but didn't have access to the right AI toolset. Also, our players' data privacy is very important to us. That is why we ensure to anonymize data when training AI.

What's exciting is that there is so much data we can apply to help everyday players. For example, once we know a player's shot patterns and tendencies, we can begin to offer improvement insights and strategic targeting and play suggestions that can help players play smarter, avoid trouble, and reduce the number of strokes they take per round. This type of insight has an immediate positive impact on the golfer's game. You can't get that from a caddy app out on the course unless you have accurate player data, unique background information, and historical data with intelligent analysis. It's literally a game changer.

Personalized smart analysis of how to play is the future of the game of golf. In our mind, being able to look at the data and make it useful for every player is crucial to helping golfers make the small improvements that can have meaningful impacts on their approach to the sport.

In the demo we showcased at IBM Think, users had the unique opportunity to take a swing at Pebble Beach's iconic seventh hole. Our platform can help golfers receive highly personalized insights generated by AI built on IBM watsonx.ai as they attempt the perfect shot.

BN: How can AI continue to add intelligence to the TruGolf platform and help golfers improve their games?

NL: Looking ahead, we have several applications that we want to prioritize. We want to roll out the commentary feature that provides users with hole insights, and real-time club recommendations while analyzing swing data, and providing training suggestions such as drills and tutorials tailored for each user's game.

We want to look closely at historical data from a player. What are their dispersion patterns? How do we integrate this data into both indoor and outdoor golf? TruGolf wants to use this info to create smart caddies out on the course.

How cool would it be to make a bunch of shots in a simulator and take that information onto the course when you play? That's where this is going -- an intelligent caddy based on your play.

BN: What excites you about the future of the TruGolf and IBM partnership?

NL: The demo we showcased at Think was just the first instance of this partnership in action. There are so many more AI applications that we want to explore and implement.

In the future, we plan to use watsonx's GenAI capabilites to bring the smart caddy experience to life helping users inform their play. We can enable an exciting new simulation detailing club recognition, club head speed measurement, and more in-depth analysis personalized to any shot or golf course.

We look forward to our growing collaboration with IBM, which is helping us deliver on TruGolf's mantra of 'Golf Easy' for years to come.

Image credit: shutter2u/depositphotos.com