NTT DATA Delivers Unique Digital Experience at The Open Championship

Congratulations to Francesco Molinari, Italy’s first Major champion, on taking home the Claret Jug after winning the 147th Open Championship in Carnoustie, Scotland.

Once again, the NTT DATA Wall was part of the action, capturing data and visualizing it as spectator information. Since 2013, NTT DATA has been an official patron of The Open Championship, the world’s most prestigious major tournament in professional golf. With 235,000 spectators lining the fairways and a half-billion more following on TV, The NTT DATA Wall provides tremendous analysis of every shot, highlighting the importance data plays in the world of sports.

Located in the Spectator Village, the NTT DATA Wall is a centerpiece of spectator engagement — both on and off the course — featuring an interactive display with continuously updated graphical information on scores, rankings, plays at each hole, details on each player, and related topics posted on social media. By identifying, interpreting and visualizing raw data, we bring fans closer to the action, revealing hidden trends and powerful insights on the tournament and the players.

The 2018 NTT DATA Wall brought exciting enhancements to the display, including dynamic 3D visuals, bite-sized, digestible information and synchronization with live TV broadcasts.

We created a more intuitive sports-spectating experience for viewers using Augmented Reality (AR) technology to superimpose game data displayed on the NTT DATA Wall onto our own Digital 3D Map (AW3D) of the golf course. When wearing a Microsoft HoloLens headset, viewers enjoyed a unique spectator experience from a perspective overlooking the entire golf course, which includes data that is difficult to capture on TV. NTT DATA uses analytics, data and digital technology to transform the spectator experience through the NTT DATA Wall.

For a visual summary of the immersive progress made to this year's wall, check out this brief video.

Or, watch our video to learn more about NTT DATA and The Open Championship.

Listen as executive director of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club (The R&A) discusses the importance of this partnership.

Read The Drum article, “The Open’s once ‘draconian’ mobile ban now ousted by hunger for livestreaming and data,” that provides an overview of how NTT DATA’s technology is enriching the spectator experience.

We continue to look ahead at what innovation NTT DATA can bring to The Open Championship in 2019 as we work to continually enhance the spectator experience on and off the course.