IBM: Calling the Shots with watsonx

IBM

IBM: Calling the Shots with watsonx

IBM has a 30+ year partnership with the USTA (US Open, Wimbledon), providing scores, stats and insights for millions of tennis fans via the tournaments’ official apps and websites.
For the 2023 tournaments, IBM introduced AI commentary built with watsonx, tapping into the power of generative AI to deliver audio and written commentary of match highlights.

So, when IBM wanted to raise awareness for how they support these tournaments and how the same technology can be applied to business, our team collaborated with IBM to develop an activation that would truly break through.


“Calling the Shots” is an AI-powered, shot tracking table tennis experience that uses watsonx technology to analyze real-time gameplay data, demonstrating watsonx’s ability to deliver match insights and AI commentary for tennis fans.


Shifting the action from the court to the table, while retaining the data analysis that’s typically reserved for elite athletes, the activation allows anyone and everyone to get in the game and get analyzed, generative AI-style.

Using custom-designed paddles embedded with motion and impact-tracking sensors, real-time game data is visualized on an accompanying LED wall. Everything from live shot paths, to ball speed, to swing speed and total numbers of forehands and backhands.


After a short match, the data is sent to watsonx, then rendered as AI commentary on the big screen via 1 of 3 personas: Professional, Constructive, and Dramatic–the last of which incorporates playful humor, and even some lighthearted jabs for good measure, all via watsonx.


Clients and prospects interested in learning more can visit a secondary kiosk, where they get hands-on with watsonx, experiment with other commentary personas, and better understand how the technology can be applied in other industries–from improving the customer experience to optimizing the hiring process for HR.


“Calling the Shots” was launched at SXSW 2024, then went on a global tour–from IBM Think to Cannes Lions to Collision Toronto, where tennis legend Maria Sharapova was able to try her hand at it. At the US Open, the activation was featured as part of two video shoots for digital/social – the ultimate showdown of tennis icons: Andre Agassi vs Jim Courier and Jessica Pegula vs Madison Keys.


The activation is now part of a permanent installation in the client Innovation Studio in the new IBM HQ in New York City.


A close collaboration between IBM, GPJ and SCPS Unlimited, “Calling the Shots” gives IBM an accessible vehicle for telling the story of their USTA partnership, and all the ways that businesses can capitalize on watsonx by scaling it across their organization.

Stats:

  • 2,755+ games played (and counting)
  • 92+ hours of AI-powered table tennis
  • 5,500+ direct customer engagements
  • 90% of players visited secondary experience (Red Hat Summit 2024)
  • Activated in 9 states, 3 continents
  • 12+ global industry events and tournaments, including Cannes Lions and the US Open
  • Featured in Sports Illustrated, MSN, ABC and CNBC

CREDITS

  • Creative Direction: IBM, GPJ
  • Production: GPJ, SCPS Unlimited
  • Exhibit Design: GPJ
  • Artwork: GPJ, BUCK, IBM
  • Social/Digital: Gather
  • AI Development: IBM
  • User Interface: IBM

Individual credits:

GPJ

  • Senior Account Director: JoAnne Blais
  • Senior Director, Integrated Production: Emily Early
  • Associate Producer: Colin Morrissey
  • Senior Creative Director: Dan Tucker
  • Senior Art Director: Chris Zahos
  • Senior 3D Experience Designer: David Sullivan 
  • Senior Creative Technologist: Macklin Andrick
  • Senior Director, Strategy Planning: Jon Gaffney

IBM

  • Director of Corporate Communications, IBM: Caitlin O’Neill 
  • Global Lead, Corporate Thought Leadership, IBM: Zachery Bishop 
  • Corporate Communications Manager, IBM: Zachary Rowe
  • Global Creative Director, Events & Environments, IBM: Matthew Calkins
  • Executive Producer, IBM: Cory Calhoun
  • Creative Director, IBM: Mia Chubarova
  • Software Developer, IBM: Dhanush R
  • Practice Manager, IBM: Fabricio Medeiros
  • Senior Art Director, IBM: Frank Scacalossi
  • Full Stack Developer, IBM: Shobhit Bhatt
  • Senior Developer, IBM: Fernando Portella Villas Boas