Looking for a thrill? Tune in to Wimbledon! Tennis is the most euphoric sport to watch on screen, AI analysis reveals
- Freeview used eye-tracking AI technology on participants as they watched sport
- Tennis sparked the strongest euphoric response, followed by gymnastics
- Boxing was found to be the least engaging sport, while football was the most
Following its 2020 hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Wimbledon finally returns today, much to the delight of tennis fans around the world.
If you’re planning to tune into this year’s tournament you’re in for a treat, as a new study has revealed that tennis is the most euphoric sport to watch.
The study, by Freeview, using artificial intelligence to decipher the expressions of participants while they watched various sports on their home devices.
The findings suggest that tennis sparks the strongest euphoric response, closely followed by gymnastics, football and cricket.
If you’re planning to tune into this year’s Wimbledon tournament you’re in for a treat, as a new study has revealed that tennis is the most euphoric sport to watch
In the study, Freeview used RealEyes’ Emotion AI technology on 150 participants while they watched clips of 10 different sports at home.
The clips were standardised so that each sport demonstrated the same format of low, medium and high intensity clips.
While the participants watched the clips, a camera was used to track their facial expressions, which could then be decoded and analysed to reveal which sports evoked the strongest responses.
While the participants watched the clips, a camera was used to track their facial expressions, which could then be decoded and analysed to reveal which sports evoked the strongest responses
The results revealed that tennis sparked the strongest euphoric response at 18 per cent – 50 per cent more than the average level of happiness when watching basic video content.
This was closely followed by gymnastics (15 per cent), football (13 per cent) and cricket (13 per cent).
Meanwhile, equestrian was found to make participants the most tense (29 per cent), followed by synchronised swimming (28 per cent) and gymnastics (25 per cent).
Following its 2020 hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Wimbledon finally returns today, much to the delight of tennis fans around the world. Pictured: Novak Djokovic
In terms of the most shocking sports, Formula One topped the list (11 per cent), while boxing was found to evoke the strongest feelings of disgust (five per cent).
And amid the Euro 2020 tournament, football nabbed the top spot as the most engaging sport to spectate, while boxing was the least engaging.
Owen Jenkinson, Marketing Director at Freeview, said ‘With some of our favourite sports returning to our TVs this summer, Freeview households across the UK will be able to share in the emotional highs and lows of all the memorable sporting moments.
‘However, with so many live moments to choose from, there’s bound to be a few lively debates over what makes it to the big screen, we hope that knowing a little more about how we emotionally respond to each sport will help viewers choose.
‘From Wimbledon to the Olympics, the Euros to Formula One, we’re extremely proud to be able to offer coverage of so many fantastic sporting events this summer, all free to watch without any paywalls or subscription fees.’
‘With hundreds of hours of live and on-demand sporting content available to watch over the next few months, viewers with Freeview Play TVs will automatically have access to their favourite games and events.’