In recent decades, video technology has become firmly embedded in the world of sport. Some cameras are enhancing the safety of sporting venues off the pitch, whilst other devices are improving the competitiveness of players and teams on it. This blog showcases three sporting applications of video that depend on Hikvision technologies. 

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For almost as long as people have been playing sports, they’ve used technology to gain a competitive advantage. Naturally, the sophistication of these technologies has evolved over time. At the start of the twentieth century, for example, stopwatches had started to improve the measurement of athletic races. A hundred years later, technologies such as Instant Replay (which allows sports officials to review video footage to ensure accurate decisions), and Hawk-Eye (which helps referees judge if a ball has fully crossed the goal line), were transforming games such as football, cricket and tennis. 

As a result, there has been an increasing demand for video technologies in sports. Indeed, the sheer breadth of Hikvision’s product portfolio enables us to support a wide variety of sporting use cases, from using cameras to improve the safety and security of sporting venues to using video analytics to enhance teams’ sporting performance.

Improving safety and security at sporting venues 

All areas of a venue must be monitored at all times due to the likelihood of crowding, accidents, and fire safety risks. The scale of these kinds of sites can, however, make this difficult—or even impossible—to achieve using traditional manual approaches and patrols. 

• Using smart video to generate alerts and search footage 

Many venues now protect staff and visitors with smart video solutions. These monitor large areas in high definition and generate automated alerts in the event of accidents and emergencies. The leading smart video solutions also provide ‘tags’ in video that allow quicker search for footage of incidents. 

• Using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to control access

Outside large venues, meanwhile, smart video solutions with ANPR capabilities can be deployed to control vehicle access and to help large numbers of visitors to park more quickly. This improves the visitor experience, especially during popular events. 

Zayed Sport City, which is the UAE’s number one sports destination, is a great example of how smart video is improving the safety of sports fans and visitors. The venue, which welcomes 1.7 million sports fans each year, has deployed a Hikvision solution that incorporates 670 smart video cameras across the entire site. With the Hikvision solution, many routine monitoring tasks can be handled automatically, reducing the risk of missed incidents, speeding up responses, and reducing staff workloads and costs. 

Improving track safety and race efficiency

Of course, some sports are inherently more dangerous than others. A great example of this is the high-risk world of motor racing. Amid all the excitement surrounding the races lies an inherent danger that could harm everyone involved—drivers, marshals, and even spectators. 

Yet here, once again, video technology can make all the difference. At Ricardo Tormo Circuit—one of Spain's most renowned motor racing tracks—Hikvision technologies are ensuring track safety and helping to manage races more efficiently. Here, dozens of high resolution PTZ Cameras have been installed. With their precise long-distance focusing capability and quick pan-and-tilt mechanism, these enable staff to monitor the whole circuit for overall situational awareness and to zoom in on specific incidents when necessary. 

• Using high frame rates to capture high speed motorcycle movements 

The cameras’ high frame rate enables raceway managers to capture the exact movements of a motorcycle, no matter how fast it is moving. As a result, violations of on-track rules—such as abusing track limits, moving under braking, overtaking at no overtaking zone, etc.—are detected much more easily which, in turn, means that decisions on penalties can be made more quickly and accurately. 

• Using AI to detect objects and activities

They have also installed cameras equipped with DeepinView technology which brings all the power of AI-enhanced image processing to help improve safety still further. The race management team has trained these cameras to detect various object and activity classifications, and to give warnings if something is wrong. 

• Using mobile cameras for rescue operations

Despite all these measures, accidents can still happen. Should one occur, the rescue operations can be recorded by a mobile onboard network camera in the rescue vehicle or ambulance.

Improving sporting performance 

Video is not just used for improving safety and enhancing the management of sporting venues. It has also become a key technology for improving sporting competitiveness. Indeed, increasing numbers of clubs and venues are using video for game analysis in order to improve sporting performance. PTZ cameras are clearly useful here, but so too are specialist panoramic cameras such as Hikvision’s PanoVu series cameras.

An excellent example of this is provided by Dutch football club VV Capelle which has invested in a range of Hikvision cameras to transform its approach to performance analysis and, in turn, improve their performance as a team. 

• Using panoramic cameras to capture the whole game

High above their pitch they have installed a Hikvision 32 MP 180° PanoVu network camera which provides a bird's-eye view of the entire field and captures every detail of the players’ movements and ball trajectories. 

• Using a mobile camera to capture detailed video of individual players

This camera is complemented with a mobile 16 MP 180° PanoVu network camera which is used to follow players for detailed close-ups. With onboard 4G and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as a built-in battery, it can be used anywhere on the football ground. It’s the perfect tool for capturing the actions of specific players.

Find out more

Every specific challenge in the world of sport that could benefit from video technology is, naturally, unique. Fortunately, the range of Hikvision video products that can be used to solve these is vast. It includes network cameras equipped with AcuSense technology which can be trained with deep learning algorithms, DeepinView cameras which take video analytics to a new level, PanoVu cameras that provide a panoramic field of view, and PTZ cameras that can pan, tilt and zoom.  

To find out more about these, and other video cameras and technologies, simply follow the links above or click here.