With the World Cup only a few weeks away, Adidas is trying to make the most technologically advanced football to date, the MiCoach Smart Ball, that will be able to monitor a footballer’s striking of the ball.
In general, technology and football have been lacking in any co-habiting relationship as advances like goal-line technology and Hawk-Eye cameras have been repeatedly denied use in official FIFA tournaments despite widespread appeal for their introduction.
Now however, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi can get their hands on the new Adidas ball that is jam-packed with sensors, wiring that will record the player’s free-kicks and detail exactly where they struck it, why it went the way it did and how they could possibly improve on their accuracy.
It will also be able to connect with the player’s Apple device to send the information as well as tracking their progress over a period of time.
Through the ‘Challenge Yourself’ app that can be installed on their device, they can set themselves challenges and targets to achieve by a certain time.
In terms of the hardware installed in the Smart Ball, it communicates with the Apple devices through Bluetooth and thankfully doesn’t require a charging cable as it powers up through a wireless pad that the ball is placed on.
While the official ball for the World Cup has already been chosen, the Smart Ball is not just available for the players taking part as it has now gone on sale online in Europe on the Adidas website for the expectedly-large sum of €299.
