John McEnroe, American tennis legend, has planned a phenomenal approach to playing tennis against himself through the use of artificial intelligence. This virtual match would be titled “McEnroe vs. McEnroe” in which he will send the ball across the net, which will then be hit by his AI avatar in the opposite direction as a response. Behind these appealing scenes, an integrated mechanism of machine learning and AI is utilized, causing different shots in the footage. This project was made possible with the collaboration of a partner company named “Unit 9″, which inspected hundreds and thousands of videos from his career to capture shots from different angles and then fed them into his avatar for mimicry. Furthermore, the marketing of this project was done by “Michelob Ultra”, and they made a superb effort to shape the whole video in such a majestic way. The video below demonstrates this spectacular feat:
This shows how a new ball is released from the cannon each time, which is supported by the smokescreen. With the help of hologram screen projection, the avatar is demonstrated, which gives an impression as if the ball is coming from the avatar’s racket. Through these state-of-the-art systems, AI has no doubt deceived the eyes by meticulously embodying different gestures from John’s past performances. Hence, this was the most incredible endeavor ever undertaken, unquestionably.
The project has revolutionized this technological breakthrough through the use of an intricate robotic return system to take the shots and transfer them to the avatar. This whole process has also provided an opportunity for John McEnroe to look back at his career and cherish the happy moments. According to him, “The more I got involved, the more interesting it became to me.” I feel like I’m in kindergarten with all the technology. “I am a dinosaur.” He added, “The scouting is going pretty well. I’m trying to remember exactly what I was like back then. It will all come back to me pretty quickly, likely as I watch the ball go by me. I will know what the person will do because it is me, but I won’t be able to do anything about it.”
