At METexpo, SMPTE awarded the 2025 SMPTE Progress Medal to Sir Ian Taylor, recognising his contribution to animation and sports production through his company Virtual Eye.
SMPTE, the organisation devoted to media professionals, technologists and engineers, has awarded the 2025 SMPTE Progress Medal to Sir Ian Taylor in recognition of his years of leadership and technological innovation in animation and sports production. Sir Ian’s award was announced as part of the SMPTE METexpo 2025 event in Sydney on 30 July
Established in 1935, such industry legends as Walt Disney (1940) and Ray M Dolby (1983) have received the SMPTE Progress Medal, and is not awarded every year.
Sir Ian is the founder of Virtual Eye, the sports division of Animation Research Ltd. He proudly describes Virtual Eye, which he launched in 1990, as the sports graphics company people have never heard of – ‘because our clients’ stories have always been more important to us than our own’.
Over three decades, Virtual Eye has developed award-winning systems that have transformed how audiences experience live events across a wide range of sports including golf, motorsport, sailing, cricket and baseball.
These innovations stem from a small, dedicated team based in Dunedin, New Zealand, a location Sir Ian calls ‘the edge of the world’. Sir Ian has always acknowledged that none of their work could have happened without the trust that broadcasters and sports organisations around the world have placed in Virtual Eye, encouraging his team to push past technological boundaries.
Of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Pahauwera descent, Sir Ian is also a tireless advocate for Māori inclusion in this industry, working to expand access to science and technology for Māori youth and ensuring indigenous perspectives are part of the future of digital storytelling and innovation.
On hearing of his win, Sir Ian Taylor said, “Receiving the 2025 SMPTE Progress Medal is an extraordinary honour, and it is one I accept on behalf of the remarkable team of people I have had the privilege of working alongside for the past 35 years. From day one, everything we've achieved has been the result of a group of incredibly talented, creative and committed people who dared to ask, ‘Why not?’ and then just got on with it.
“It is also an acknowledgement of our many industry partners and colleagues who have all shared the singular goal of using technology to tell stories, better. This award belongs to every person who has walked through our doors and added their spark to what we do. I’m just the one lucky enough to be standing here saying thank you.”
Paul Whybrow, Chair of SMPTE Oceania said, “Ian is a humble leader, who has been a great supporter of SMPTE OCEANIA and so actively involved in our METexpo conferences. We feel so proud that an innovator from the Oceania region can make such a global impact for sports fans over decades – Ian you are a legend!”
Sir Ian Taylor will be given his award at the SMPTE Annual Gala on 16 October as part of the global 2025 SMPTE Media Technology Summit in Pasadena, California. www.smpte.org
