Nippon TV’s viztrick AiDi wins dual awards at NAB

Nippon TV and FOR-A win dual awards for viztrick AiDi, as the technology for real-time auto tracking and 9:16 autocropping for live streaming win NAB’s “Product of the Year” and Future’s “Best of Show”.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) bestowed a “Product of the Year” award in its Streaming category to GoVertical! AiDi, and Future Publishing presented it with a “TV Tech Best of Show” award, recognizing the importance of GoVertical! AiDi feature of the on-device AI technology, which uniquely provides real-time auto tracking and 9:16 autocropping for live streaming.

The NAB Show Product of the Year Awards recognize and celebrate the most innovative and forward-looking products featured on the NAB show floor. With 16 categories, entries are judged by a panel of industry peers. Future’s Best of Show Awards are evaluated by a panel of engineers and industry experts, and are selected based on innovation, feature set, perceived value and application in serving the industry.

Tim Canary, Senior Vice President, Engineering at NBC Sports, who have used AiDi for select live streaming events, stated during FOR-A’s annual “FOR-A Connect” event at the NAB Show: “What impressed me most was the lack of latency. The output is delivered in under one second, which is truly remarkable. In sports, real-time performance is critically important.”

GoVertical! AiDi delivers real-time, AI-aided 9:16 autocropping and auto tracking for immediate live streaming to mobile platforms with significant reduction of operational workload. It is ideal not only for live sports, but also for events such as red-carpet premieres, scripted and unscripted shows, movie trailers, conferences, and news—anywhere 9:16 streaming is in demand.

“We are thrilled with the recognition from the NAB and Future Publishing,” said FOR-A America President and COO Satoshi Kanemura. “The current state of this product is the result of a rigorous development process with detailed customer feedback. GoVertical! AiDi instantly unlocks revenue streams with mobile phone viewers. There is virtually no delay and no need to connect to the internet or the cloud, as opposed to competing solutions that introduce a delay of five to ten seconds with labor-intensive workflow. When it’s live, every frame counts.”

This AI-powered technology operates at true broadcast speed, enabling near-real-time processing. Powered by NVIDIA’s high-performance GPUs, it enables true live streaming, ensuring that audiences experience every moment as it happens and that broadcasters maintain the immediacy demanded by live production.

“We are deeply honored to have been recognized at the NAB Show, where the world’s most advanced technologies and equipment come together,” said Takayuki Shinoda, Associate Managing Director, Global Strategy Headquarters｜Creative Technology Lab, Engineering & Technology. “What began as an internal initiative to address on-the-ground challenges one by one has grown into a single product and has evolved to the point of being deployed on the global stage. Although the journey to these awards was by no means short, we are delighted to consider it a new starting line. As viewing habits continue to change dramatically, we remain committed to delivering increasingly compelling content experiences and to pursuing challenges that bring joy and inspiration to people around the world.”

viztrick AiDi delivers real-time player tracking, face tagging, object recognition, 2.5D telestration, auto-score graphics, and motion data analytics. Unlike cloud-based alternatives, viztrick AiDi operates entirely on-device, eliminating reliance on internet connectivity while ensuring consistent performance in outside broadcast and remote production environments.