23 Jun World Cup Goes High Tech
It only took 4 days for the 2014 Fifa World Cup’s newest high tech toy to be put on display. During the France –Honduras game, French player Karim Benzema’s shot bounced off one of the goalposts and began to skip across the goal mouth. As the Honduran goalkeeper scrambled to keep the ball out of the net, fans both in person and at home were left wondering; did the ball cross the goal line? For the first time in a World Cup, technology was able to answer the question. The referee ruled decisively it was a goal, and France went on to win the game 3-0.
Using GoalControl’s 4D system, a series of cameras mounted high in the stadium monitor both goals. Each goal has 7 cameras focused on it, covering all angles and all scenarios where player’s bodies may block the field of view. Using complex image processing servers, the video streams from these cameras are merged and analyzed in real time, with a “goal/no-goal” result beamed to the referee in under a second. It is an impressing feat of technology, and one where Key Tech understands the many challenges. Past work in real time image processing has taught us where the difficulties in such a system lies. This includes the processing power and bandwidth for full color video, variations in uncontrolled light sources, and algorithm development to isolate the data of interest. GoalControl has developed a fast and well proven system that overcomes all three of these challenges, and makes both the referee’s and the fan’s job a little bit easier.
Outside of the office Josh is an active person, participating in local sports leagues and traveling the country playing Ultimate Frisbee. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Bucknell University.
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