[World Cup]Japanese supporters may be out, but ‘smart ball’ catches 1mm : Culture : Hankyoreh Japan

Japan’s come-from-behind goal helped by AI soccer ball

The ball is round. And modern balls are smart.

Japan defeated Spain. 1st place in the group and entered the best 16. Won the group of death. When such an accident occurs, the expression “the ball is round” is usually used. But now maybe I should add the phrase “Ball is smart”. This is because cutting-edge technology, which has been applied to soccer balls since the Qatar World Cup, saved Japan.

The official ball of the World Cup, Al-Rifra, can be charged wirelessly. That’s because there are two sensors inside the soccer ball. One is an ultra-wideband (UWB) sensor. The sensor transmits real-time ball position information 500 times per second. It’s a better technology than GPS and Bluetooth. The other is the inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor. This sensor senses subtle movements of objects in space. The weight of these devices is 14 grams, a level that players cannot feel at all.

Not just the ball. FIFA introduced various cutting-edge technologies to this World Cup. This is the emergence of so-called artificial intelligence (AI) referees. Twelve cameras are installed under the roof of the Qatar World Cup stadium. These track 29 body parts of the player to understand their movements. The AI, which receives the motion information transmitted by the camera, synthesizes the information sent by Al Rifra and these cameras and informs the referee of offsides and out of play. This time it takes only 20 seconds.

In fact, Japan’s come-from-behind goal that came out in the 16th minute of the second half of the same day might not have been recognized without such cutting-edge technology. Whether or not the final pass that led to the score occurred after being out of play was a point of contention, but it was such a small difference that even if you look at the video judgment (VAR) screen, the judgment is divided depending on the person. Even the Japanese supporters who were watching the game raised their voices saying, “It might be out of play.” However, the referee ruled “in”. It was thanks to the technology that did not overlook even a 1mm difference.

In this tournament, there were 22 cases in 44 games where misjudgments were corrected by video judgement. Some have argued that such technology works mainly to the advantage of weaker teams. Since referees are also human beings, it is possible that prejudices about the strength of the team may have affected the conventional judgment. In fact, even in the match in which Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, the Argentine players’ goals were disallowed due to offside decisions one after another. Of course, there is not yet enough data to substantiate this. But one thing is certain: football has become fairer.

Kaoru Mitoma of the Japanese national soccer team passes the ball at the last minute during the 2022 Qatar World Cup Group E 3rd match against Spain held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 2nd (Korea time). = Doha/AP Yonhap News

By Lee Jun-hee, reporter (contact [email protected])

https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/sports/soccer/worldcup/1069943.htmlOriginal text in Korean: 2022-12-02 21:59
Translated by HJ