3. Portable solutions
This third category includes technological products that are not permanently installed on the court. They can be owned by clubs and by individual players. Compared to the previous solutions, the price is much lower and it is limited to the purchase of a device (iPhone) or at most a few hundred dollars.
- Since they are portable, they must be installed on the tennis court before the match or the training session
- There are no kiosks or large touch devices
- They may require an additional calibration activity after the configuration and before the start of monitoring
- They involve an intensive consumption of battery, which should be charged to capacity before starting each session.
This category includes: Baseline Vision, In/Out Tennis, Eyes3, SwingVision.
Baseline Vision
Baseline Vision is an Israeli start-up founded in 2018, which has developed a portable camera system that can be installed on a net post. It could be said that it is a reduced version of the “solutions with built-in camera in the pole” treated previously. The system is simple and economical, and it allows to monitor and analyse amateur sporting events in real time. The technology exploits Computer Vision, Deep Learning and Motion Estimation algorithms to accurately calculate 3D trajectories from a single device equipped with two cameras, integrated into the net post, with each camera pointing at one side of the court. The unit only takes a minute for the on-court installation and it is completely wireless, which means it has its own Internet connection and power supply with rechargeable batteries.
Its main characteristics include line calls, real-time audio feedback, training tools and video analysis tools, etc. Users must download the app on their smartphones to interact with the unit. Baseline Vision was initially believed to sell data directly to players, but it turns out that the units are also sold to clubs and academies, which in turn rent them to players who want to monitor training sessions.
In/Out Tennis
In/Out Tennis is similar to the previous product. It looks more compact, as it is equipped with a video camera – a mini-kiosk. It was created in 2017 by the French serial entrepreneur Grégoire Gentil, a great tennis fan who has created five start-ups in the last 20 years, with the aim of making the line call systems and statistical analysis accessible at a low price. It consists of a device mounted on a net post and equipped with two cameras that constitute the fixed portable unit, with a small touch screen above it to allow users to navigate through its various features. Like most of the previously mentioned devices and systems that belong to the second category, In/Out provides video recordings and is equipped with computer vision for line calls, statistics and performance analysis. A peculiarity of In/Out is its ability to increase tracking by simply adding another device mounted on the other net post, augmenting not only its precision, but permitting to monitor a doubles match.
With the 2.0 version, an additional hardware component has been added to improve the accuracy of line calls, which consists of a video camera positioned on the ground to capture the point where the balls land in regard to the line being monitored. Therefore, the solution is incremental, since a user can start with the basic version or get a more accurate tracking by mounting up to two devices on the net posts with eight devices for line calls. When the ball is out, the system emits a hiss similar to the Cyclops one used at Wimbledon. A protective cage shelters the device from any possible damage caused by the ball. Currently, In/Out is available for shipping to over 60 countries.
Eyes3
Eyes3 is another portable solution based on videos, created between 2018 and 2019 by Infinity Cube, a Hong Kong-based start-up focused on the research and development of advanced solutions for the sports market. The main features lie in the refereeing of matches and in the preparation of the statistical analysis of matches. Eyes3 basically uses an iPhone as a camera. Users can follow one side of a match by using an iPhone and having the rear camera cover that side of the court, or use two iPhones to monitor both sides of the court. The software allows you to configure up to 10 iPhones/cameras on a court to capture videos from different views. An additional iOS device can also be used for camera control or management. The main requirement for using the Eyes3 software is to own an iPhone 7 or a more recent version of the iOS 12 operating system. Each software license allows you to install up to 12 devices.
There is no specific hardware for Eyes3, but it is advisable to use safe supports to securely anchor the devices during use, since any movement of these can affect the accuracy of the recording and the line calls evaluations. The company’s website suggests having an external backup battery for each iPhone, since the continuous use of the camera significantly contributes to drain the battery of the device. During 2019, the Eyes3 system was used at the men’s Korea Open, at an ITF tournament and at the finals of the Chinese League of Clubs tournament. Without a doubt, Eyes3 aims to be the most important refereeing solution for Futures, Challengers and junior tournaments.
SwingVision
Speaking of the extensive use of an iPhone, the latest solution in this portable category is SwingVision, a US company founded in 2015 and supported by Andy Roddick and James Blake in the dual role of investors and testimonials. The proposed solution is based on a device equipped with iOS 13 or iPadOS operating systems and its camera to analyse the shots of a player while also calculating the statistics and providing video footage. However, near real-time analysis is only allowed by the most recent devices (iPhone XR / XS, 11/11 Pro, SE 2020, iPad mini 5th generation, iPad Air 2019, iPad Pro 2018+).
The iOS device must be mounted behind the baseline on a tripod or a fence. The important thing is that the video camera is able to have a complete view of both alleys of the court. Surprisingly, a single camera is capable of providing multiple of the aforementioned features, including swing and ball tracking (shot types, speed, rotation, shots landing in or out, positioning, racquet contact), shot analysis, video analysis, training and tutoring analysis. A couple of SwingVision app’s unique features are: 1) training exercises that allow players to work on their own, and 2) integration with Apple Watch that allows players to get video previews in real time, start and end recordings, get statistics immediately and highlight favourite shots. The IOS app is downloadable and can be used by users in the free version with some features or in the pro version that includes the whole package.
Temporal and comparative evolution
From the temporal evolution of the sector, it is evident that the products whose main function is to umpire matches have a more consolidated tradition, while the other products are advertised by start-ups founded mostly in the last 4-5 years, with the exceptions of PlaySight and Mojjo. Therefore, it is assumed that some of these products may be absorbed by giants of the IT sector or that they will simply merge in order not to disappear from the market. At the same time, the reduction of sporting practice to a playful phenomenon, encouraged by gamification functions as well as by economic accessibility, will favour a rapid adoption of portable solutions even at the club and amateur level.
The comparative analysis of the 12 illustrated products is easy. For systems equipped with cameras, the main differences reside in the number of cameras, in their positioning on the court, in the frame rate, and in the basic lighting requirements – the aforementioned factors affect tracking accuracy. Solutions with multiple sensors or cameras will have a much higher accuracy degree. The products approved by the ITF have fulfilled the requirement of a margin of error equal to or less than 5 mm for line calls in conjunction with other parameters. The heterogeneity and depth (high accuracy) of data collected in official competitions are not limited to umpiring purposes, as professional coaches and players can greatly benefit from match data to better comprehend their performance in the context of an official match.
In terms of usability and adoption by the wider tennis community, the accuracy of line calls or speed measurements or even the depth of statistical analyses could be not decisive and critical factors anymore. Rather, there appears to be a preference for other features such as live streaming, instant video playback or rear visual analysis with in-depth training. This is because the democratization of video productions can reinvigorate interest in media and sponsors, even in private clubs and academies.
Another determining factor is the price of these solutions, which tends to significantly drop as we move from the first group of so-called “smart refereeing” to the group of portable solutions. On the other hand, customers tend to be willing to pay more for technological solutions suited to their contexts.
To recap, here’s a summary of the types of smartcourts divided by category. These are the smart referees:
Then the products used for smart training:
And finally the smart portable solutions:
Which are the criteria that guide the choice towards a specific technology?
First of all, we must consider the fact that it is a good time to invest in these technological solutions for managers of tennis organizations, clubs or academies, with revenues that will not be immediate but that could be differentiating factors already in the medium-term run. Secondly, we need to start with the actual needs of the structure before deciding which system to adopt. Finally, it is essential to obtain the alignment of all the parties involved, meaning players, coaches, and structures managers, on which functions are considered important for a given tennis academy. The productive use of the so-called “smartcourts” still requires a lot of work as only a handful of coaches and organizations are experimenting with them.
Article by Andrea Cannella; translated by Irene Zecchi; edited by Tommaso Villa
