Al Rihla, a high-tech football with a 14-gram sensor inside that enables it to be tracked in real time and pin point its exact location at any given moment of play, was presented by FIFA and Adidas, the official ball sponsor, for Qatar 2022 with the idea of improving the sport and having even more fair decisions on the field.
This makes it possible to judge goals, offsides, and many other plays with the greatest degree of accuracy possible, and it also adds a useful tool to the Video Assistant Referee, or VAR.
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Because the sensor inside only uses a small battery that lasts about 6 hours of active use, fans began to wonder why World Cup balls were being charged before the game.
Maximilian Schmidt, the co-founder of KINEXON, who developed and produced the sensor, described its operation and even claimed that it captures the ball at a rate of 50 frames per second whenever it is impacted. The sensor weighs 14 grammes.
World Cup balls are being charged with electricity before Matchs start#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/kdrnxsLhh8
— Kick (@KickGlobe) November 25, 2022
“The local positioning system (LPS), which consists of network antennas positioned all over the playing field and collects and stores the data for quick use, receives data in real time from sensors and transmits it to the LPS. KINEXON’s backend system switches to the new ball’s data input without the need for a human to be involved when a ball flies out of bounds during play and a new ball is thrown or kicked in to replace it.” Schmidt enjoined.