Only three days remain until the most awaited football tournament - the FIFA World Cup. This year's World Cup will be more significant than any football event during the past 96 years due to its various aspects. This 39-day championship is held for the first time ever by three countries. Moreover, it will be held this year for the first time with a participation of 48 teams. It will be unique, especially when speaking about technology use. We are going to introduce you to five of them.
Mexican authorities have ordered specific robots which will provide extra protection at the stadiums in case of riots. They will be put to work inside the stadium in such a case and send videos directly to the security forces.
This year's official match ball has been called "Trionda." The match ball contains an Inertial Measurement Unit sensor which collects data and sends them to the Video Assistant Referee 500 times per second. It records the ball's 3D movement, enabling accurate offside decisions.
At this World Cup, advanced semi-automated technology will decide whether the ball is offside, not linesmen. This will replace older technology, which can make decisions accurate to 10 centimeters, and will send real-time audio alerts directly to the referee's earpiece instead of VAR.
FIFA has launched an AI-based 3D player "avatar." This will create a 3D model from a digital scan of each player's body. This will be used to track players when they obstruct or go offside.
Referees will use body cameras in all 104 World Cup matches, similar to those in many major leagues. This will allow fans to see the game on the field as if they were there in person.