Sports
4D Sportsground features rotating surface to support multiple uses
Some sports venues – think indoor basketball courts/ice hockey rinks – use their space to support multiple sports. LEDSSPORT's Pulastic LED Court and ASB's GlassFloor both use LEDs to redraw line marking to suit different sports, but the new 4D Sportsground being developed in The Netherlands takes the concept to the next level, delivering a sports field that seamlessly rotates between three separate surfaces. Its designers hope to develop a field that spends 24 hours a day in use. Read More
Almost every major sporting organization has a mobile application designed to make watching a more enjoyable experience for the fans. The NHL has its GameCenter app, the NBA has Game Time, MLB has At Bat, and now, the MMA organization Bellator has its Bellator MMA applicaiton for iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad. Read More
"Practice makes perfect." It's an the old expression that InfoMotion is aiming to build on with some new tech. The 94Fifty practice basketball uses six built-in sensors to give players an array of feedback data and help identify what parts of their game they need to work on the most. Read More
Viewers of televised football games can now see footage from video cameras mounted on the players’ helmets and the coaches’ heads ... what else could one ask? Of course, let’s see what things look like from the ball’s point of view! Actually, that’s no longer as far-fetched as it once was. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Japan’s University of Electro-Communications (UEC) recently unveiled their BallCam system, which can provide relatively smooth video from a spinning, airborne football. Read More
Nissan upgrades Nismo to global performance road car brand
Nissan opened a new global headquarters for its Nismo performance brand in Yokohama, Japan yesterday, at the same time as announcing a considerable promotion of the formerly niche brand to major performance car brand with a presence in every Nissan showroom globally. The name Nismo will be now used in a similar fashion to the way Mercedes Benz uses AMG, or BMW uses the M logo, and joy-o-joy, there will be a high(er) performance Nismo version of Nissan's bargain-basement GT-R supercar. Read More
Can't get your proper fill of football (or, if your prefer, soccer) by living vicariously through the Ronaldos and Messis of the world? Consider table foosball frat boy play? Perhaps the new Trick Kick mini soccer game will do the ... trick. Billed as the world's one and only original indoor mini kick soccer game, Trick Kick provides a new way of experiencing the world's most popular sport. Read More
Rollersafe rollerskis incorporate wireless disc brakes
A Norwegian designer has come up with a way of making asphalt-based exercise a little safer. His RollerSafe street skis use a wireless disc-braking system that makes it easier to control speed and come to a safe stop. Read More
Wraparound style sunglasses favored by many sportspeople provide that extra side protection from the sun's rays, but their curved lenses can make them bulky even when folded up. They create an uncomfortable bulge in the pocket, can be annoying perched on your head or hanging off your shirt, and are easy to lose. A new design called Popticals is designed to be easier to store and transport. Read More
ASB GlassFloor replaces painted lines with LEDs
Multi-purpose sporting courts can be a jumble of different colored lines and markings that can be confusing to spectators and players alike. Similar to LEDSSPORT's Pulastic LED Court, the GlassFloor flooring from German company ASB uses LEDs embedded in the floor to display the line markings for different sports at the flick of a switch. Read More
Soloshot automated actioncam tripod tracks your biggest moves
Ever since technology made video cameras small and light enough to wear comfortably on the body, manufacturers have been busy one-upping each other with features like GPS tracking, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming, integrated internet uploading, remote controls and of course, better filming capabilities. But the basics have remained the same: small, lightweight cameras that sits on the filmer's body or gear and takes point-of view footage. SOLOSHOT brings a different point of view to the action sports filming equation – it's a tripod that incorporates an automated tracking system to deliver third-person footage without anyone behind the lens. Read More