In the present days it is found that all sports go hand in hand with technology. To be more appropriate sports and technology are two sides of the same coin. One such interesting technological feature, mainly used in Cricket and Tennis, is the Hawk-eye Technology. Hawk Eye technology is a system which visually captures the path or trajectory of a ball in games that involve balls, such as as tennis, badminton, rugby union, cricket, football soccer, volleyball, etc. The graphical representation of the trajectory is called Shot Spot. Hawk Eye technology is based on the principle of triangulation by deploying visual images, timing data extracted from high speed video cameras. The cameras are placed at various locations, so that the path of the ball can be viewed from any angle. The number of cameras vary from game to game. The number of cameras and their placement depends on the playing area, rules of the game, ball size, etc. The Hawk-Eye captures 600 frames per second on the Goal Line in football. The Goal Line Technology is based on the principle of hawk-eye.
The following are the ways in which this special type of Technology is used in various sports:
1. Tennis: To review the dropping of the ball on the line or not after it has been hit by any player. The Hawk-Eye ball tracking systems is used.
2. Football/Soccer: The Goal Line Technology is based on the Hawk-Eye system’s principle. It is used to verify if the ball had crossed the goal line in its aerial flight or even by touching the ground also. It is also used to review for line crosses resulting in a throw, corner or even a goal-kick.
3. Basketball: The last-touch decisions in the final two minutes of the game are reviewed using this technology. It also checks whether the basket (if any) was done before the time was up.
4. Cricket: The decision referral system (DRS) used has this kind of technology in it. It determines a no. of things, whether the ball had even a faintest of touches with the bat – it is found using the Hawk-Eye or even the old favorite Snicko; it is used to picture in the trajectory of a ball thrown and check whether it is LBW or not; it is also used to review a run out decision.
5. Baseball: Certain umpiring decisions in the game were challenged in 2014 leading to the introduction of this technology.
6. AFL: Umpiring decisions are now reviewed in the AFL, through this Hawk-Eye system. It is basically used to review the passing of the ball over the goal line by viewing various camera angles.
7. Rugby Union: In the 2015 Rugby World Cup, this technology was used in order to ensure player’s safety by the identification of possible concussion incidents or even behind the game incidents.
