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Fifa and Hawk-Eye have established the ‘Football Technology Centre’, a new joint venture that will develop new and emerging soccer technologies.
The two organisations have worked together for several years, with Sony-owned Hawk-Eye providing artificial intelligence (AI) semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) for Fifa competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cups.
The initial priority of the new venture will be on performance and officiating, specifically algorithms that can detect on-pitch events.
“This joint venture is just another example of the extent to which Fifa is harnessing the use of technology to optimise football operations and to play a leading role in technological developments for the benefit of our 211 member associations,” said Fifa secretary general Mattias Grafström.
“It will have a positive impact across football as it will help to automate the provision of valuable information, facilitate decision-making processes and ultimately improve the football experience for all stakeholders.”
An early focus will be automated offside technology that would instantly notify a referee on their smartwatch in a similar manner to goal line technology (GLT). SAOT currently uses skeletal and object tracking capabilities to detect the location of the limbs of all 22 players and the ball at any time.
If the system detects any part of a player interfering with play is in an offside position, an alert will be sent to the video match officials who will then validate the decision using a video replay. If the decision is upheld, a notification is sent to the referee’s watch in a similar fashion to GLT, and a 3D virtual recreation of the incident is displayed on the big screen and on the television broadcast for viewers at home.
SAOT is thought to have sped up the process by as much as half a minute when compared to VAR, whilst also offering greater accuracy and transparency. Fifa and Hawk-Eye believe that by automating this process, they can amplify these benefits even further.
The technologies and algorithms developed for fan engagement purposes will likely find uses elsewhere. Indeed, Hawk-Eye’s skeletal tracking technology can be used for fan engagement purposes, such as 3D virtual recreations of match action for metaverse environments and to aid performance. For example, the data gathered can be fed into match analytics platforms while 3D recreations can be used in virtual reality (VR) training applications.
“Given the highly competitive nature of [soccer] and the constant evolution in the sports technology industry, Hawk-Eye continues to consider the future with a strategic approach. We’re incredibly proud to collaborate with Fifa on this joint venture, to continue creating innovative solutions that will make the beautiful game more understandable, precise, fair, and exciting for everyone at all levels of football”, added Rufus Hack, Hawk-Eye chief executive.
“The creation of the Football Technology Centre is a natural evolution of our relationship with Fifa and will leverage technology and AI to pave the way for the future of football officiating, performance and fan engagement.”
Hawk-Eye forms part of Sony’s sports businesses, along with digital specialist Pulselive and immersive data visualisation firm Beyond Sports. Earlier this month, Sony acquired motion capture specialist KiniTrax, allowing it to capture biomechanical data from athletes.
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