Alibaba launches real-time communications at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

In order to bring people closer together for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Alibaba has launched Cloud ME, powered by its real-time communication (RTC) solution. Cloud ME facilitates social interaction for people during the Games, enabling them to virtually meet and enjoy real-time conversations with each other via life-sized, true-to-life projection.

Once they step into a pop-up studio in the Cloud ME booth in Beijing, participants will have their full-body image projected realistically into a remote booth, enabling their projected personas to meet and greet their counterparts. The meetings can be opened up to a wider audience across unlimited locations thanks to easily-installed remote projection functionality.

Source: Alibaba Group. Daniel Zhang (left) and Thomas Bach (right) appear to stand next to each other in a Cloud ME booth.
Source: Alibaba Group.  Zhang (left) in the Shanghai Cloud ME studio, meeting with Bach (right) who is physically in the Beijing closed-loop, with the meeting ‘projected’ at the Beijing Media Center.
 

“Alibaba is committed to the digitalisation of the Olympic Games, and providing the technology infrastructure to promote a more inclusive and engaging experience,” said Daniel Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group.

“We hope to unite athletes and fans around the world with our cloud technology, and allow the Olympic spirit to inspire us all as we celebrate the joy of sports.”

“Together with Alibaba, we are making history here in Beijing. For the first time ever, all core systems needed to run these Olympic Winter Games are hosted on Alibaba Cloud. Whether it is powering the Olympic online store in China, the OBS Cloud*, or technology to support the world’s media here in Beijing, Alibaba Cloud technology is setting new standards and raising the bar to new levels,” said Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Cloud ME booth is simple to set up, Alibaba Cloud said. Beyond typical studio equipment- such as a video camera and a computer to capture the footage, no additional onsite IT infrastructure, nor optimised Internet bandwidth,  is required. The recording and transmission is all based on cloud computing.


Video and audio produced in the Cloud ME booth are transmitted via Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. The proven RTC solution is powered by Alibaba’s advanced cloud computing capabilities and global network coverage.

Backed by the low latency, high availability and high concurrency of Alibaba Cloud, the process can be completed within 200 milliseconds. The live recording can then be projected onto a remote 4K high-definition screen, generating a hologram that is updated in real time. All details which are essential to in-person interaction are reproduced in high definition, including facial micro-expressions and clothing texture.

"The real-time communication solution powered by cloud technology plays a critical role in helping the world to connect effectively. Leveraging our global cloud network and self-proprietary algorithms, we aim to bring the benefits of real-time communication to various day-to-day scenarios including online education, interactive entertainment, videoconferencing and other enterprise services,” said Lijuan Chen, GM, Product and Solution, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.

Details:

Alibaba’s Cloud ME booths are available both within the closed-loop management system
at Beijing 2022, as well as outside for participants of the Olympic Winter Games. The first Cloud ME event for Beijing 2022 facilitated a remote meeting between Zhang and Bach on February 6. They were unable to meet physically due to COVID-19 restrictions in China.

*OBS Cloud, a cloud-based broadcasting solution, was announced in July 2021, when it was harnessed for Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021 because of the pandemic). With OBS Cloud, Alibaba collaborated with Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) to support cloud-based service delivery for rights-holding broadcasters (RHBs) for the first time. At the time, the OBS partnership with Alibaba Cloud was called "perhaps the biggest technological change in the broadcasting industry for more than half a century since the introduction of satellite transmission, which was introduced to Olympic broadcast coverage for the first time at Tokyo 1964."

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