cinfo, a leading Spanish company in automatic production technologies, has hired 20 specialists in software and artificial intelligence to launch the ‘tiivii: Smart Automatic TV production for everyone’ project, with which it aspires to become the European leader in Automatic TV.
The project, which is designed to automate the audiovisual production of events, was one of 21 selected by the EU with capital investment from 1,849 technology companies, and expects to create up to 100 more jobs in the next three years.
tiivii is, in the words of the EU, “innovative, disruptive and takes full advantage of 5G and AI technologies”. cinfo includes in the project not only automatic production technology but a complete stack to create an OTT television, from production through to distribution.
With tiivii, which can be configured in automatic, semi-automatic or manual mode, it is possible to deploy installations with smart cameras that are ready to produce quality events in a matter of minutes. The product includes support for graphic media, voice-overs, video mixing, transitions, etc., a full console of cloud-based video production supported by artificial intelligence.
The video player that accompanies the project also allows access to each camera and integrates different interactive services into the broadcast. In the current version, cinfo’s elastic deployment technology supports up to 10,000 events in the same weekend, all around the world.
“Thanks to tiivii technology, creating an OTT television will be very simple and a new explosion of content is expected as audiovisual entrepreneurs understand the technology and specialize in specific content segments,” said Antonio Rodríguez del Corral, CEO of cinfo. Additionally, he pointed out that “tiivii also supports the integration of cameras with sensors to be able to adapt to circuit events such as boat races, cycling, racing, mountain biking or skiing”.
cinfo has already started marketing the product in B2B mode. Telecom operators, content producers and broadcasters are taking an interest in integrating the product into their value chain. The European project contemplates the creation of 3 large demonstrators in 3 European countries, one of which will be in Spain, another in Northern Europe and the third in Central Europe.
This project was submitted for the European EIC Accelerator Call, in which cinfo obtained 100% approval for an initial investment of €6.03 M in product, R&D and growth. Of this amount, €3.9 M will be in the form of direct equity investment by the new EIC Fund and associated investors.
In the case of cinfo, the EIC Accelerator committee approved a combined investment of direct support and equity, which equals to a shareholding interest of around 20% in cinfo and in which, by mutual agreement with cinfo and the EIC Fund, additional investors who want to commit to the project could be added. Presently, there are already several interested funds that are in cinfo’s study phase to invest along with the EIC.
The project, which has already received a €1 million advance from the EU, will be developed over 24+12 months. In line with it, cinfo will expand in at least 9 countries and will cover a total of 14,000 sports facilities, operating under the B2B and B2C business models, as it will launch its own OTT under the tiivii brand.