New Cameras Face Big Test At NBA Finals.

Fresh off a $6 million infusion of equity financing, Los Angeles video innovator Be Here Corp. is taking its panoramic technology to center stage this week when it teams up with NBC during the NBA championship to present the first-ever single camera 360-degree images of a live sporting event.

Be Here, which has been making a push in recent months to expand the application of its patented technology from Internet streaming, photographic and security ventures to the more lucrative world of live sports coverage, is hoping that the enhanced images during the NBA finals will captivate viewers and broadcasters alike.

The stakes will be high. On average, more than 11.5 million American households tuned into last year's NBA championship series, which was won by the Los Angeles Lakers over the Indiana Pacers. Be Here is hoping a successful display of its 360-degree technology will not only give it cachet with other sports producers but also offer a glimpse of its potential with other broadcast formats.

"As Laker fans, we're excited about the fact that they're in the finals," said Be Here president and CEO Andrew Thau, who joined the company last August. "From a company standpoint, this is one of the highest-pro file sports events, and we think it's a terrific platform to introduce the project."

For other fans of the Lakers, the new broad casting tool offers the tantalizing prospect of viewing a 360-degree Kobe Bryant slam dunk from an unprecedented variety of angles, all generated from a single camera.

Unlike EyeVision, a similar video technology created by Princeton Video Image Inc. and CBS that was used on hockey and football broadcasts last year, Be Here's TotalView sys tem utilizes a single camera lens combined with software that creates a seamless panoramic view. Cameras affixed well above the back boards at both ends of Staples Center will be in use during the championship series to capture action at both ends of the court. A Be Here technician will work with NBC's broadcasting team to display the images during breaks in the action, offering a birds-eye view to help break the game down for viewers and to evaluate strategy.

Because half of the panorama captured by the cameras will be filled with the crowd behind the baskets, NBC will rarely utilize the cameras' full 360-degree capabilities. Instead, the network will concentrate on offering a variety of views of players on the court, said Andy Rosenberg, NBC's coordinating director for the NBA finals.

Cautious approach

Rosenberg said that NBC is excited by the new technology but plans to take it slow. Introducing it during the NBA finals had more to do with the timing involved in working out an effective system than with long-term strategy decisions, he said.

"It looks like it has the potential to be a very nice enhancement. ... We don't know if it will become a fixture until we roll it out during a live basketball game," Rosenberg said. "It's like with any other new technology, there's a learning curve involved both on our side and their side, so there's a natural concern. We plan to take some baby steps in the first game and maybe some bigger steps in the second game and see how it goes."

Be Here's deal with NBC reflects the company's growing focus on broadcasting and entertainment. Established in Cupertino in 1996, the company moved most of its operations to Los Angeles earlier this year with an eye toward making deals in Hollywood.

Although Be Here has yet to turn a profit, its four divisions - security and monitoring, Internet streaming, still-frame photography (used mostly by car manufacturers and real estate companies) and television broadcasting are all generating revenues, Thau said, adding that the company expects to be in the black soon.

"The beauty of the technology is that it cuts across numerous applications. We are using the same basic technology across all our product lines," he said.

Last week, Be Here announced that it has raised $6 million in a fourth round of funding, much of it from Ardmore, Penn.-based Snider Capital, a private equity source for sports, entertainment and leisure companies. So far, the 34-person Be Here has raised $23 million. Other investors include Intel Capital, Eastman Kodak and Philips Electronics. Bringing sports/entertainment-oriented Snider Capital in as an investor is seen as a way of adding momentum to Be Here's evolving orientation.

"Our investors want the company to build its entertainment ventures. We think (Snider Capital) is a natural fit. It's not only a financing shift, but a strategic shift," Thau said.

Although the NBA finals will be the first live broadcast test for Be Here, its previous forays into sports and entertainment include streamed Webcasts of NBA and NHL games, in which users were given the capability of controlling the image. The Democratic Party utilized similar capabilities during its Webcast of last year's Democratic National Convention at Staples Center. In another application, "Entertainment Tonight" used TotalView for its coverage of the red-carpet arrivals for this year's Academy Awards, although the footage was edited into a program that aired the following night.

Although there have been some complaints that the emerging technology offers less than crystal clear images, particularly on the Internet where bandwidth is a factor, Thau insisted that the NBC broadcasts will show that Be Here's single-camera technology is indeed ready for prime time.

"We're confident that NBC thinks we can really enhance their product," Thau said. "This is a premier event for NBC Sports, and I think it speaks to the quality of the product that they would introduce it during the finals."