Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMTIlmenau
Fraunhofer IDMT develops solution for generating movement-synchronized and license-free music
Music rights can be a real problem for figure skaters, as recent headlines surrounding the 2026 Olympics have shown. Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté, known for his free skate to music from the Minions film series, became embroiled in a rights controversy shortly before his Olympic debut in Milan-Cortina: The music he had used in many competitions throughout the season was initially not allowed to be used at the Olympic Games because the necessary copyright approvals were not confirmed in time – just a few days before the start of the competitions.
The challenge of using music for free skating programs in a legally compliant manner affects not only professionals, but also amateurs, young people, and junior athletes. This is because many competition recordings are automatically blocked on platforms such as YouTube, as music rights for these purposes cannot be purchased on a flat-rate basis.
A possible solution now comes from Fraunhofer IDMT in Ilmenau. AI researcher and PhD student Amir Latifi Bidarouni from the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT, has developed an idea for motion-synchronous and license-free generation of tailor-made music as part of the "Think Sport Data Hack Challenge 2025" together with Smitesh Sorathiya, Jignesh Bhatt and Hitesh Derkarhi. The development team, with the name "DynamicBeats," prevailed over seven other international development teams with its idea in the final pitch in December 2025 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will now be able to present its winning idea during the Winter Olympics in Milan.
The Data Hack Challenge is an annual international innovation hackathon organized by the International Skating Union (ISU). Teams from science, universities, and industry work with real ice sports data to develop new solutions for training, performance analysis, and broadcasting using data analysis and artificial intelligence.
The winning idea
Amir Latifi Bidarouni and his team developed an AI-based system that analyzes figure skating videos, detects and classifies the athletes' movements, and translates them into structured musical specifications. Based on this, copyright-free soundtracks are generated that perfectly match the movements and timing.
An optical tracking system records jumps, figures, and sequences in the free skate and creates a precise schedule for the choreography and movement profiles. Based on this, an AI system then generates the appropriate music that is perfectly matched to the movements – dynamic, individual, royalty-free, and reproducible in various musical styles.
This solution allows figure skaters to perform, record, and share their free programs without legal concerns or potential bans – from the big Olympic stages to training videos in clubs.
"With our approach of intelligently combining image-based motion analysis and AI-based tools for music analysis and recommendation, we can generate tailor-made, AI-generated music – matching the respective free skate, absolutely synchronized and, above all, royalty-free," explains Bidarouni, who will now present his findings in person in Milan.
We are delighted that Fraunhofer IDMT's idea can now even be presented in an Olympic context – this is a special recognition of scientific achievement. The team's work shows how applied research from Germany, and in particular from Ilmenau, can even deliver innovative solutions for top international sporting events.
The presentation will take place on Sunday, February 15, 2026, at the Allianz MiCo Congress Center in Milan.
Home of Skating | Allianz MiCo Congress Center Milan
Sunday, February 15, 2026 | 4:30–5:30 p.m.
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