Montreal software engineers want to revolutionize sports world with artificial intelligence
Posted August 18, 2022 9:00 am.
Last Updated August 18, 2022 7:56 pm.
A duo of software engineers from Montreal’s Polytechnique University are using artificial intelligence to revolutionize the world of sports.
Tarik Agday and Imrane Belhadia wanted to find a way to use their love for computer engineering in the world of athletics. That’s how Sports Ai was created.
“I was interested in AI in general computer vision – I’m doing a Masters in that right now,” said Belhadia. “So I had this interest and Tarik came with the idea of doing a performance analysis and analyzing athletes, and coming up with KPIs that are interesting for those athletes.”
“KPI is ‘key performance indicator,’” added Agday. “It differs from team to team. A coach can decide to work on specific KPIs that other teams aren’t aware of.”
Both Agday and Belhadia came from athletic backgrounds, with the former being a soccer player while the other was a swimmer.
Belhadia says KPI – and the analysis of it – can become instrumental in helping teams win games.
“I immediately got interested in that,” he said. “I saw how AI can be implemented to help teams and how it can help to get these KPIs. I saw what solutions I could bring and implement with my computer engineering background, and how I can help build a product that can accomplish goals that Tarik proposed to me.”
With the love for all things tech, computer and sports, the two engineers found a way to combine their passions.
“I think that applying computer vision or any sort of data analysis to the swimming world could change how we train, how the trainings are performed, how recovery is done,” said Belhadia. “How the whole process of training athletes is approached. A huge impact, huge opportunity for swimming.”
The pair decided to participate in tech accelerator programs to get some funding to develop their app. They got good recognition by notable technology schools such as Montreal’s Polytechnique, École de technologie supérieure and others.
“We got a certain amount of money to work on the project,” said Agday. “We spent the summer working on it. We received a really big interest from clubs in Montreal. Since then, we started working with different incubators.”
So far, the feedback they are getting from colleges and universities in and around Montreal has been positive.
“I am a coach and I am usually on the pitch, so I use my eyes and my feeling to know if this kind of player is a good player, or if my team plays well, and I like to be helped by the new technology,” said François Bourgeais, a coach with Club de Soccer Longueuil.
“We need technology and when Tarik and Sports Ai show us the skills of the application, what they do, sure it was great for us. And we agreed to become partners. We have signed a partnership and Sports Ai help us become better on the pitch.”
Inspired by matches at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, they found Sports Ai can provide more accurate data that can save a team’s performance during the game, and provide the right tools to players and coaches.
“Real-time data analysis is something that’s lacking right now,” said Agday. “We don’t have access to tailored metrics and this is how Sports Ai can bring sports to another level, to help them make clear decisions making regarding the players and matches.
“Not only do we help coaches but we also help players by providing KPIs that are meaningful to players. We can help them analyze their game and compare their performance with other players in the leagues.
Agday and Belhadia are hoping to get national and international recognition in the world of sports. They will be hosting a sports evolution conference in Montreal on Aug. 24 to showcase their project to the local soccer community.
