In this episode of the Sunny Ray Show, host Sunny Ray talks with Eran Tal of MindFly, the company behind RefCam and PlayerCam. Tal explains how tiny AI-enabled cameras worn on a referee's ear or a player's vest transmit live to the production truck, letting directors cut to a first-person view during major league matches. He describes his path through four startups, all centered on video, and why moving from software to hardware was harder than expected. Tal covers the long testing needed to win player and league approval, the challenge of keeping broadcast quality while scaling, and how leagues like La Liga now run operations themselves. He explains why most customers find MindFly through viral content rather than marketing, and expects monthly revenue to triple over the next 90 days. The conversation also covers content boundaries set by each league, rights ownership, and future uses in concerts, industry, public safety, and robotics.
Eran Tal of MindFly explains how ear-mounted AI cameras put fans in the shoes of referees and players, live.
What did you want fans to experience differently with RefCam and PlayerCam?
I wanted fans to feel immersive, to know what it is to be a ref or a player. You see everything through their eyes and hear everything through their ears. You can only get that by putting cameras with AI on referees and players and transmitting it live.
What does MindFly actually build?
We work with major leagues like the Premier League, La Liga and the Bundesliga. We put a tiny camera, mostly on the ear for referees, plus a transmitter, and send the feed live to the production truck. The director can then pick the referee's or player's view during the game.
Why move from software to building a physical device?
Honestly, being idiotic, because if I had known how hard it was, I probably would not have done it. But the only way to get this immersive feeling was hardware, and nothing like it existed. We built everything from scratch, including the vest, and the AI handles stabilization and auto direct.
What had to be true before leagues allowed cameras on players?
We had to prove it was comfortable and safe through extensive trials and practices. The vest even enhances safety, with material that absorbs shocks. Players and leagues wanted rigorous testing, including throwing a ball at high speed at a dummy, before they allowed it in an actual game.
What breaks first when you scale and remove humans from the loop?
The hardest part is scaling while keeping quality. Broadcasters expect broadcast quality, like what very expensive cameras deliver, and we have to match it in a tiny device moving rapidly around the pitch. We also let leagues like La Liga run operations themselves.
How did the first leagues and teams find you?
Our content went viral. A friendly game against Milan on a player blew up worldwide with hundreds of millions of views. Now 80 to 90 percent of customers reach out to us through LinkedIn or our website. We invest zero in marketing.
What makes first-person view different from marketing hype?
People are surprised once they see it. It is the most natural way to view anything, through your own eyes. When you see Messi looking at the referee and reacting naturally, you are in the referee's shoes. A camera next to him would feel completely different.
Where does this technology go beyond sports?
Music concerts are low hanging fruit, imagine being the singer or guitarist on stage. Beyond that, industrial remote workers, homeland security, firefighters and police, where AI could spot dangers, and eventually robots, letting an operator see what the robot sees remotely.
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