Recent studies indicate a decrease in live sports viewership for particular sports, particularly among younger audiences like Gen Z. In response, leagues and broadcasters are exploring innovative strategies, including varied viewing options, enhanced statistics, and deeper analysis, to boost fan engagement.
Volumetric video generation offers a compelling solution, allowing viewers to experience gameplay from multiple perspectives, much like an in-game camera. This technology fundamentally relies on capturing footage in 3D using many cameras, enabling diverse viewing angles. Canadian startup Peripheral Labs aims to democratize this technology, making it accessible and cost-effective for sports leagues and teams, thereby expanding its reach to more broadcasters and fans.
Established in 2024 by Kelvin Cui and Mustafa Khan, Peripheral Labs benefits from their prior experience on the University of Toronto’s award-winning driverless car team. Khan previously served as a researcher at Huawei, while Cui contributed as a software engineer on chassis systems at Tesla.
Cui shared with TechCrunch, “Mustafa and I are both deeply passionate about sports; he’s a dedicated Arsenal supporter, and I’ve followed the Vancouver Canucks since childhood. When Mustafa presented his 3D reconstruction research, I immediately envisioned how incredible it would be to watch hockey with such dynamic, multi-angle freedom. That inspiration led to the founding of Peripheral Labs.”
While acknowledging that volumetric generation is not a novel concept, the company’s founders assert that recent advancements in AI models and computer vision have matured the technology, making it suitable for widespread adoption.
Leveraging their background in self-driving vehicles, the co-founders are applying principles of robotics perception and 3D vision to enable 3D video reconstruction in sports. Cui and Khan state that their system can significantly lower the number of required cameras from over 100 to potentially just 32, thus reducing both costs and operational complexity. The startup’s strategy involves minimizing hardware expenses for clients and securing long-term platform contracts.
Utilizing a proprietary sensor stack akin to those in autonomous vehicles that capture depth data, the software platform will furnish teams and leagues with players’ biomechanical information and statistics. This photorealistic 3D reconstruction technology will empower broadcasters and fans with novel control over game viewing. For example, viewers could selectively follow the player possessing the ball or pause gameplay to examine critical moments, such as a foul, from multiple angles.
Cui explained, “Our advantage lies not just in using readily available cameras, but in how we integrate them with our expertise in robotics and machine learning, allowing us to build robust platforms and scale our solution from intimate practice facilities to expansive soccer and football stadiums.”
Regarding its software capabilities, the platform can monitor various player joints, including finger movements, to quantify flexion. The accompanying video, for example, illustrates the system measuring knee and ankle flexion during a soccer match. This data offers coaches valuable insights into player body mechanics and flexibility, potentially aiding in performance enhancement.
The startup successfully closed a $3.6 million seed funding round, spearheaded by Khosla Ventures, and joined by Daybreak Capital, Entrepreneurs First, and Transpose Platform.
Joe Ros, a partner at Entrepreneurs First, expressed his fund’s astonishment at the substantial following garnered by the founders and their autonomous driving team at the University of Toronto. He observed that while investors frequently exhibit caution towards sports-focused startups, Peripheral Labs presents itself as an entertainment venture as well.
He conveyed to TechCrunch via email, “The end-user is the consumer, and their appetite for sports content remains constant, not subject to seasonal fluctuations. Peripheral is poised to establish immersive, volumetric video as the next benchmark for sports consumption. Furthermore, their current efforts in the sports sector will provide them with a critical advantage—in data, technology, and deployment—making them uniquely positioned to lead this innovation in the market.”
Peripheral Labs indicated that it was deliberate in selecting its venture capital partners, prioritizing those who could offer expertise in areas such as product development and market entry strategies. Currently employing 10 engineers, the company plans to expand its team, concentrating on platform and hardware enhancements to cut operational costs, improve system responsiveness, and boost the fidelity of its 3D reconstruction.
While the startup has not yet disclosed its collaborations, it confirmed ongoing discussions with multiple North American teams and leagues. Peripheral Labs operates in a competitive landscape, facing rivals such as Arcturus Studios in the sports volumetric capture market.