New Tech Innovations at the 2014 World Cup

Outside of the Olympics, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event held globally. The final of the Brazil World Cup 2014 will be watched by at least 1 billion people, and the US has really been paying attention to the action this year with the match between the USA and Ghana being watched by up to 11 million ESPN viewers, a record for the channel. With so much viewership, this is the perfect spot to promote innovation and new product designs. Here are a few you should keep a look out for this year.

Goal Camera Technology

GOAL!.. or is it? GoalControl-4D is able to track whether or not each goal has officially made it passed the goal line through 14 high-speed cameras (7 cameras on each goal) that show x-,y-, z- coordinates along with speed. A signal is then sent to a wrist watch worn by the official on the field within less than a second! Watch it in action:

A Line of White Foam

If you haven’t noticed it yet, before every free kick, referees have been running onto the field to spray a white shaving cream like line of foam. This is to ensure defensive players are a 9.15 meter distance from the kicker, hence the product name 915 Fairplay. Within one minute, the foam disappears, allowing for continued gameplay.

The New Ball

While a traditional football (or soccer ball as we call it in the states) has 32 panels, the new Adidas Brazuca football has only 6 panels. Many avid viewers and players from 2010, may remember the Jabulani ball which had 8 panels, but was widely complained about among the 2010 World Cup players because of its smoothness causing less control. Although this new ball has even less panels, it will have control similar to a traditional 32 panel ball due to its rougher surface. Watch as the NASA Ames Research Center Tests the new World Cup Ball:

4K Ultra HD TV

Watch out HDTV, there is now Ultra HD. Sony has been working with the World Cup to film a portion of the games in 4K this year. Select stores will have previews of what the World Cup will look like in Ultra HD on Sony Bravia X9 televisions, the official 4K TV for the 2014 World Cup. Sorry Americans, you will have to wait to view these special previews unless you go to one of these retail stores in the UK.