Perfect Corp. teams with Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on AI generated retro baseball player photos for fans

Perfect Corp. has partnered with Japan’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles baseball team, bringing a touch of nostalgia to the stadium with retro style player images. The tie up, unveiled during the Rakuten Eagles’ recent games, allowed fans to experience AI driven photo editing.

YouCam Perfect’s engine turned images of the Rakuten Eagles players into vintage, retro styled portraits inspired by Japan’s Showa and Heisei eras. Displayed on stadium screens, these AI enhanced images retained the players' unique features while adding nostalgic backdrops and outfits.

“We’re thrilled to offer fans an innovative way to celebrate the players they admire through the power of AI,” says Alice Chang, Founder and CEO at Perfect Corp. “By using our AI Studio feature to transform photos into nostalgic artwork, we hope to add a bit of magic to the fan experience, combining timeless styles with the latest technology.”

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

AI was a key focus area at the sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, Scala, CADS, 3D Cloud, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, Business France, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended last night’s gathering.