WO2011066408A1

WO2011066408A1 - System and method for reviewing a play

Info

Publication number: WO2011066408A1
Application number: PCT/US2010/058034
Authority: WO
Inventors: Isaac S. Daniel
Original assignee: F3M3 Companies, Inc.
Priority date: 2009-11-24
Filing date: 2010-11-24
Publication date: 2011-06-03

Abstract

A system comprising at least one camera, at least one processor operative to communicate with the at least one camera, at least one sideline display means operative to receive at least one image from the at least one camera, and computer executable instructions readable by the at least one processor and operative to use the at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player during at least one game and display the at least one image on the at least one sideline display means. A method comprising using at least one processor to perform at least one of the following: use at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player on a sports field, and display the at least one image on at least one sideline display means.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REVIEWING A PLAY

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to electronic systems, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and various other disclosures related to reviewing a play, and in particular, to reviewing a play during a game.

BACKGROUND

In many sports, images of games are often reviewed by team personnel on the sidelines during the game. Images of game action are particularly useful for coaches.

Coaches review images of games, such as images of the teams' formations not only to improve their own teams' performance, but to plan for the opposing teams' strategies as well. Coaches also use game images to communicate strategies to their respective teams during timeouts or while the players are off the field.

Traditionally, in sports, such as American Football, a play is recorded, or captured, and then after a series of plays, on the sideline, members of a team, such as the coaches, are provided with still images of the plays on paper. Sometimes coaches draw on the sheets of paper showing the game action to communicate new strategies or correct old strategies to the players.

The current system of providing images of game action on paper has proven to be clumsy to deal with, wasteful, inefficient, and/or inaccurate, since paper can easily deteriorate during bad weather conditions or rough handling, and is limited as a teaching tool since drawing on paper can be messy and lead to confusing images. SUMMARY

The various systems, methods, and other embodiments described herein result from the realization that game play reviews can be made more efficient, effective, and useful by providing a system where plays can be captured and then sent to a sideline display means.

The various systems, methods, and other embodiments described herein result from the further realization that game play reviews can be made more efficient, effective, and useful by converting a captured play to a manipulatable computer model.

Accordingly, the various embodiments and disclosures described herein solve the limitations of the prior art in a new and novel manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 A shows a system in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. IB shows a system in accordance with another embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart representing a method in accordance with one embodiment; and FIG. 3 shows a block diagram representing an article in accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

System Level Overview

FIGS. 1A and IB show a system 100 in accordance with one embodiment. System 100 comprises at least one camera 102, at least one processor 104 operative to communicate with the at least one cameral02, at least one sideline display means 106 operative to receive at least one image from at least one camera 102, and computer executable instructions readable by at least one processor 102 and operative to use at least one camera 104 to capture at least one image of at least one player during at least one game, and display the at least one image on at least one sideline display means 106. The terms "communicate," "electronic communication," "connected," or "electronically connected," as used herein with reference to electronic devices, computer executable instructions, and the like, refer to any type of electronic communication or connection, such as those effectuated by wireless communications or connections, wired communications or connections, or hardwired communications or connections.

In some embodiments, camera 102 may be any kind of camera, including, but not limited to, a video camera, a still picture camera, a high speed sports camera. In some embodiments, camera 102 may comprise a include 3D sensor or camera, which may comprise a time-of-flight sensor, a structured light sensor, or the like, such as those developed or produced by Optrima SA (Belgium), Microsoft Corp. (United States), Primesense Ltd. (Israel), PMD Technologies GmbH (Germany), and the like. In some embodiments, camera 102 may be operative to capture plays during a sports game (as shown in FIG. IB), and then relay those captured plays to a display means located on the sidelines of a game via a processor, such as processor 104. In some embodiments, there may be a plurality of cameras 102 to capture a play at multiple angles. In further embodiments, camera 102 may be positioned within or near a sports arena, such as within a viewer's box, a skybox, a stadium box, on an aerial vehicle, such as blimp, or suspended from the ceiling or stadium, such as on cables.

In some embodiments, processor 104 may be any type of processor, such as, but not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a video processor, a front end processor, a coprocessor, a single-core processor, a multi-core processor, and the like. Processor 104 may also be a video processor. In various embodiments, processor 104 may be operative to receive a captured play from camera 102, and relay the captured play to sideline display means 106, which may be located on a sideline of a game. In some embodiments, processor 104 may be positioned on or in camera 102. In other embodiments, processor 104 may be positioned on or in display means 106. In yet other embodiments, processor 104 may be positioned remotely (e.g. in a viewer's box, skybox, or stadium box in a stadium), as shown in FIG. IB. In some embodiments, processor 104 may be electronically connected to camera 102, or display means 106, or both, while in other embodiments, processor 104 may be wirelessly connected to camera 102, or display means 106, or both. In yet another embodiment, processor 104 may be in encrypted communication with sideline display means 106 and/or camera 102. In some embodiments, the encryption may be any type of encryption, such as but not limited to, 128 bit encryption, PGP encryption, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption, and the like.

In one embodiment, a sideline display means 106 may be a portable display means, such as, but not limited to, a portable computer, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, a tablet personal computer, a portable screen, and the like. Sideline display means 106 may be any kind of display means, such as, but not limited to, a television, a computer screen, a flat screen, such as a plasma screen or a liquid crystal display, or the like. In some embodiments, sideline display means 106 is electronically connected to processor 104. In other embodiments, sideline display means 106 is wirelessly connected to processor 104. In yet further embodiments, sideline display means 106 may include a control means, or a means for receiving user input such as, but not limited to, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, a stylus, and the like. Sideline display means 106 may display a captured image from camera 102. Sideline display means 106 may also display a computer model based on a captured image from camera 102. In some embodiments, sideline display means 106 may receive a captured image which has been captured by camera 102 and relayed to display means 106 via processor 104. In some embodiments, sideline display means 106 may be a coaches' display means. The term "sideline display means," as used herein, may refer to any display means that is possessed by a team member, or a non-team member, such as a referee, which may be used not only on the physical sidelines of the playing field, but in other locations where team members may be positioned, such as within a stadium or arena suite, in the stands, and the like.

The computer executable instructions may be loaded directly on the processor, or may be stored in a storage means, such as, but not limited to, computer readable media, such as, but not limited to, a hard drive, a solid state drive, a flash memory, random access memory, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and the like. The computer executable instructions may be any type of computer executable instructions, which may be in the form of a computer program, the program being composed in any suitable programming language or source code, such as C++, C, JAVA, JavaScript, HTML, XML, and other programming languages.

In yet another embodiment, the computer executable instructions may be operative to transmit the captured image from camera 102 to sideline display means 106. The computer executable instructions may also be operative to take a snap shot, or a still image, from a video captured by camera 102. In a further embodiment, the computer executable instructions may be operative to convert the captured image into a computer model, wherein the computer model may be a displayable and manipulatable computer model. The computer model may be a two dimensional model (2D), three dimensional model (3D), or four dimensional model (4D), which would include the dimension of time (e.g. an animatable computer model). In yet a further embodiment, the computer model may be manipulated on the display means by using the control means to manipulate the model and/or image which is being displayed on the display means. The manipulation may include moving around players on the display means to a desired location or drawing on the image, such as by using a stylus, so that a user (e.g. a coach) can communicate to a second user (e.g. a player) what the play being displayed should look like.

In one embodiment, the computer executable instructions may include image recognition software. In a further embodiment, the computer executable instructions may be operative to analyze the captured image from camera 102, and create, or generate, a computer model based on the captured image, and then recognize the subjects of the image (e.g. players, etc.) and convert those subjects into manipulatable objects in the computer model.

In some embodiments, the process of analyzing or converting the captured image into a computer model may include using object recognition software or 3D image modeling software, or gesture recognition/control software, to convert the image into a computer model. In some embodiments, the 3D image modeling software or gesture recognition/control software may comprise a type of software or middleware, or a variant thereof, such as those developed or produced by Softkinetic SA (Belgium), Omek Interactive Ltd. (Israel), Primesense Ltd. (Israel), Microsoft Corp. (United States), and the like.

In some embodiments, the computer executable instructions may be operative to receive at least one image from at least one skybox in a sports arena. Such an image may be an image that is sent from team staff located in a skybox to team staff located on the sideline of a game.

In some embodiments, the captured image may be any type of image of a game or team, such as but not limited to, a team formation, plays, players, player movements, and the like.

Methods

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart representing a method 200 in accordance with one embodiment, wherein method 200 comprises using at least one processor to perform at least one of the following: use at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player on at least one sports field (block 202), and display the at least one image on a sideline display means (block 204). In some embodiments, the processor may be any of the embodiments described with reference to processor 104 in FIGS. 1A and IB.

In some embodiments, the camera may be similar to camera 102, as described above with reference to FIGS. 1A and IB. Capturing at least one image of at least one player 202 may include using a plurality of cameras to capture at least one image of at least one player 202 from a plurality of angles. In another embodiment, using at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player on a sports field comprises using at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player formation on a sports field.

In other embodiments, displaying the at least one image on at least one sideline display means (block 204) may include transmitting at least one image to at least one sideline display means. In some embodiments, method 200 may comprise using at least one process to encrypt the at least one image prior to transmitting it to the at least one sideline display means. In some embodiments, the method of encryption may comprise any of those forms of encryption described above with reference to FIGS. 1A and IB.

The display means may be used by a member of a team, such as a coach, staff member, or player. Alternatively, the display means may be used by a non-team user, such as a referee and the like. In some embodiments, the display means may be similar to display means 106, described above with reference to FIGS. 1A and IB.

In a further embodiment, method 200 may comprise using at least one processor to convert the at least one image of at least one player into at least one 3D model. In a further embodiment, method 200 may comprise converting the at least one image of at least one player into at least one displayable and/or manipulatable 3D model. In a further embodiment, method 200 may comprise converting the at least one image of at least one player into a 2D model. In yet a further embodiment, method 200 may comprise converting the at least one image of at least one player into at least one displayable and/or manipulatable 2D model.

In some embodiments, converting the at least one image of at least one player may include analyzing the image, recognizing objects in the image, such as players and the like, and then converting the image along with the objects into a computer model, which in some cases, may be manipulatable. The analyzing or recognition of objects in the image may be performed by using object recognition software or 3D image modeling software, or gesture recognition/control software, to convert the image into a computer model. In some embodiments, the 3D image modeling software or gesture recognition/control software may comprise a type of software or middleware, or a variant thereof, such as those developed or produced by Softkinetic SA (Belgium), Omek Interactive Ltd. (Israel), Primesense Ltd. (Israel), Microsoft Corp. (United States), and the like. In some embodiments, the objects may be moved throughout the computer model by a user through a control means, such as any of the control means described above with reference to FIGS. 1A and IB. For example, such manipulation may be as simple as moving the object through the model, as displayed on a display means, by touching and dragging the object with a stylus or click and dragging the object with a mouse.

In some embodiments, displaying the at least one image on a display means 204 may comprise displaying at least one 3D model, which may include a manipulatable 3D model, on a display means. In other embodiments, displaying the at least one image on a display means 204 may comprise displaying at least one 2D model, which may include a manipulatable 2D model, on a display means. In some embodiments, method 200 comprises using at least one processor to allow at least one user to edit or manipulate the at least one image displayed on at least one sideline display means. In some embodiments, such manipulation may include clicking and rearranging the image, manipulating objects within the image and/or model, and/or creating animations based on the image, such as by, but not limited to, moving the objects to desired positions, and then animating the movements. Such manipulation may include, but is not limited to, creating new objects, or deleting objects, within an image and/or model, which may include, but is not limited to, adding players, writing information, deleting players, illustrating a play, modifying a play, and the like.

Hardware and Operating Environment

This section provides an overview of example hardware and the operating environments in conjunction with which embodiments of the inventive subject matter can be implemented.

A software program may be launched from a computer readable medium in a computer- based system to execute function defined in the software program. Various programming languages may be employed to create software programs designed to implement and perform the methods disclosed herein. The programs may be structured in an object-orientated format using an object-oriented language such as Java or C++. Alternatively the programs may be structured in a procedure-oriented format using a procedural language, such as assembly or C. The software components may communicate using a number of mechanisms, such as application program interfaces, or inter-process communication techniques, including remote procedure calls. The teachings of various embodiments are not limited to any particular programming language or environment. Thus, other embodiments may be realized, as discussed regarding Fig. 6 below.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram representing an article according to various embodiments. Such embodiments may comprise a computer, a memory system, a magnetic or optical disk, some other storage device, or any type of electronic device or system. The article 300 may include one or more processor(s) 302 coupled to a machine-accessible medium such as a memory 304 (e.g., a memory including electrical, optical, or electromagnetic elements). The medium may contain associated information 306 (e.g., computer program instructions, data, or both) which, when accessed, results in a machine (e.g., the processor(s) 302) performing the activities previously described herein.

The principles of the present disclosure may be applied to all types of computers, systems, and the like, include desktop computers, servers, notebook computers, personal digital assistants, and the like. However, the present disclosure may not be limited to the personal computer.

While the principles of the disclosure have been described herein, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure in addition to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:

a. at least one camera;

b. at least one processor operative to communicate with the at least one camera;

c. at least one sideline display means operative to receive at least one image from the at least one camera; and

d. computer executable instructions readable by the at least one processor and operative to:

i. use the at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player during at least one game; and

ii. display the at least one image on the at least one sideline display means.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one camera is selected from the group consisting of a video camera and a picture camera.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one camera is positioned within a sports arena.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is in wireless communication with the at least one sideline display means.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is in encrypted communication with the at least one sideline display means.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the sideline display means includes a screen with a means for receiving user input.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sideline display means is a portable display means.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sideline display means is a coach's sideline display means

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions are operative to convert the at least one image to a computer model.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer executable instructions are operative to allow at least one user to edit or manipulate the at least one image displayed on the at least one display means.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer executable instructions are further operative to receive at least one image from at least one skybox in a sports arena.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one image captured by the camera is at least one image of at least one formation of at least one team.

13. A method comprising:

a. using at least one processor to perform at least one of the following:

i. use at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player on a sports field; and

ii. display the at least one image on at least one sideline display means.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein using at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player on a sports field comprises using at least one camera to capture at least one image of at least one player formation on a sports field.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein displaying the at least one image on at least one sideline display means includes transmitting the at least one image to the at least one sideline display means.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising using at least one processor to encrypt the at least one image prior to transmitting it to the at least one sideline display means.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising using at least one processor to allow at least one user to edit or manipulate the at least one image displayed on at least one sideline display means.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising using at least one processor to convert the at least one image of a player into at least one displayable and manipulatable 3D model.

19. The method of claim 13 further using at least one processor to convert the at least one image of a player into at least one displayable and manipulatable 2D model.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the sideline display means is a coach's sideline display means.