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Rugby Ball Meets Web-Cam

Posted by Hemos on from the cross-breeding dept.

comcn writes "What do you get when you cross a rugby ball with a web-cam? The BBC have an article about a polytechnic in New Zealand that is in the process of creating a camera that is small and light enough to fit inside a rugby ball. Boy, are you going to get a headache when watching rugby on TV now."

30 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. If you didnt know by isorox · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rugby is kind of like American Football, except tough. Theres no pamby helmets, no 5 foot thick shoulder pads, no 3 minutes breaks every 3 seconds. etc. etc. Just a pure blood bath.

    1. Re:If you didnt know by Knunov · · Score: 4, Offtopic

      While I was working in Europe, I had this discussion about a thousand times with the various European nationalities, but especially the English and Scottish.

      The mechanics of American Football necessitate protective gear. The size mismatches alone make it a requirement.

      A common scenario in American football is a 180-pound receiver, standing completely still while catching a mid-field pass, being slammed into by a 250-pound linebacker running top speed. This generally does not happen in rugby.

      Without pads, there would be regular incidents (as in every game) of broken bones, paralyzed players and even deaths.

      In the spirit of fairness, I offered to demonstrate this fact to a particularly loudmouthed Scottsman, that happened to be a former rugby player. I weigh 230 solid pounds at 6' 1".

      We were in a hotel bar, at the time. So we stepped into the first floor hallway, and he walked to the far end. Some people from the bar gathered to watch.

      He stood at the end of the hall and braced for impact. I ran as fast as I could and dove into his stomach using my shoulder as the impact site.

      When he regained conciousness 3 minutes later, he was more understanding of my point of view. After he vomited on himself, that is.

      As if the skeletons and musculature of rugby players are somehow sturdier than a football player's...

      Knunov

      --
      Why do users with IDs under 100,000 or over 700,000 usually have the most worthwhile comments?
    2. Re:If you didnt know by Amanset · · Score: 2

      A common scenario in American football is a 180-pound receiver, standing completely still while catching a mid-field pass, being slammed into by a 250-pound linebacker running top speed. This generally does not happen in rugby.

      You have quite obviously never seen a full back flattened when trying to make a "fair catch" (which requires standing still and shouting "mark" whilst catching) then.

    3. Re:If you didnt know by jimlintott · · Score: 2, Informative

      Here in Canada many high schools have both Rugby and Football teams. I know many who played on both teams and to a man they all agree that football is the more dangerous of the two. Blocking, tackling at the knees or from behind are normal in football and forbidden in rugby.

      Rugby is a very cool game. Rugby players are a very tough bunch of blokes, of that I have no doubt. But without equipment who would dive head first into someone's knees?

    4. Re:If you didnt know by 0xA · · Score: 2
      A common scenario in American football is a 180-pound receiver, standing completely still while catching a mid-field pass, being slammed into by a 250-pound linebacker running top speed. This generally does not happen in rugby.

      Actually this happens all the time in rugby and as a 250 pound linebacker / prop forward it is one of my personal favorites. :-) One contact does not prove your point. I got knocked out cold by a scrum half once, it can happen to anyone.

      This is why rugby player are tougher: You play the WHOLE game, no huddle, no stopping. The only way to understand this is to think of a football player that plays offence, defense and special teams and also runs around in a circle while everyone else is in the huddle

      You don't understand tough until you've been running around a field (twice the size of an American fottbal field) for an hour, get your face stepped on 4 times in rucks, scrummed against a pack that outweighs your side by four hundred pounds and had an entire line out come down on your back.

      A man that can do that and then drag his bruised, bleeding body into the club and drink until four in the morning with a grin on his face is a HARD man.

  2. how exciting by Juln · · Score: 2, Funny

    As usual, the rest of the media has already been trumped by the porn industry (the legendary (...) Dildo Cam!! Second only to the X10).
    I can't imagine the view from the ball being particulary entertaining, compared to actually being able to see what the hell is going on.

    --
    Juln
    1. Re:how exciting by armb · · Score: 2

      > As usual, the rest of the media has already been trumped by the porn industry

      Yes, but you can't make a whole rugby ball out of transparent perspex, nor make people play rugby inside a CAT scanner[1], so this is more of a technical challenge.

      [1] http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1596
      "Magnetic resonance imaging of male and female genitals during coitus and female sexual arousal"

      --
      rant
  3. Blurry images. by PopeAlien · · Score: 4, Funny
    So far, the camera is only able to produce a faint blurry black-and-white image.

    Gee. I cant wait until it can produce hi-rez full color faint blurry images.. What a scientific advance!

    --
    air and light and time and space
  4. While you're at it... by trilucid · · Score: 5, Funny


    As long as we're gonna go around modding out rugby balls to give us "most excellent" visual shots, why not continue with this new tradition of improving on the game...

    You could place internally stabilizing gyroscopes inside the thing to ensure the "always perfect" pass. Heck, if you're gonna do that, why not mod it out with anti-intercept electronic countermeasures too? Opposing player tryin' to snag the ball? No worries, mate... it's packing more punch than a hand-held taser.

    Geez, this game could be really fun. :)

    Web hosting by geeks, for geeks. Now starting at $4/month (USD)!
    If you're gonna email, use the public key!

  5. Wait a minute... by hyyx · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know this may be the first time that someone has sucessfully installed a video camera inside a rugby ball, but haven't video cameras that are miniature, lightweight, and durable been around for SOME time now? What about football (American) helmet cams? Do a search anywhere for miniature video cameras. It just doesn't seem like that great of a technological feat...

    1. Re:Wait a minute... by hearingaid · · Score: 2

      It's really incredibly small. The thing about helmet cams is that they don't have to worry about throwing the helmet balance off; a rugby ball has to have a specific balance, or the rugby players will get even more hurt than usual :)

      The consequence of this is that the rugby ballcam has to be really, really lightweight, so the players won't notice it being there.

      --

      my old sig used to be funny, but then slashcode ate it and now it's not funny anymore

  6. Puke ball by AntiPasto · · Score: 2
    Geez! Blair-witch ruined the movies for me... is this going to ruin my sports-tv experience too? Motion sickness is hell... I love roller coasters, but damn if they don't make me puke. I guess I'm in the minority have-to-look-out-the-front-of-the-car group here, but does rugby really need this? They way crap moves I doubt its going to be very fun to watch.

    If there's a steadycam or fish-eye lens, it might help... with fish-eye you can see who had their hands on the ball!

  7. Re:Please build in a GPS by hearingaid · · Score: 2, Troll

    That's actually the opposite of what they want.

    They want a view of the scrum from the underneath. One of the problems with rugby on tv is that it's really hard to follow what's going on in the scrum.

    So if there's a camera on the ball itself, you get to see inside the scrum.

    Which unfortunately will probably mean quite a few crotch shots :)

    Hmmm, perhaps this will help boost rugby's female viewership. (More likely, it'll boost women's rugby. Huh.)

    --

    my old sig used to be funny, but then slashcode ate it and now it's not funny anymore

  8. First Photos of modded rugby ball by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Look here for one of the first pictures of a rugby ball with video camera capabilities...

  9. Other sport cams by marble · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wasn't it the BBC who had a snooker cue camera a while ago? ISTR it worked quite well until the player chalked it...

  10. More links by comcn · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since posting the story, I've found a better link to the Otago Daily Times. The story there has a rather good picture of the ball with the camera in it.

    Also, here's a link to the Otago Polytechnic.

  11. Re:wow! by skroz · · Score: 2

    Doubtful. If they had a battery pack powerful enough to shock a human being, they could use it to power the camera and transmitter easily.

    --
    -- Minds are like parachutes... they work best when open.
  12. Oh well. by rice_burners_suck · · Score: 2

    How about this: Make a lot of tiny cameras and put them all over the rugby ball. These cameras will film everything going on around the ball. A computer could take these images and connect their edges, the way many still photographs can be attached to produce a 360-degree photo. The computer could remove unwanted spinning motion from the film. Or something like that. Oh well.

  13. instability of the universe? by _ganja_ · · Score: 5, Funny
    I'd never thought I'd see the day when a geek site was arguing if football or rugby players are "harder".


    Of course I hope you understand that in order to maintain ballance in the universe there are two prop forwards sitting in a bar drinking Jolt and arguing if the Cube will kick the ass of the Xbox.

    --

    A journey of a thousand miles starts with a brutal anal raping at airport security

  14. blocking/knee tacklin happen all the time in Rugby by DABANSHEE · · Score: 3, Informative

    League

    Yep there are no rules against that sort of thing in Rugby League

    & Rugby League players cope ok without helmets, padding or ballet tights.

    You're talking about Rugby Union, AKA 'rugby', which is altogether a different game to Rugby League, AKA 'league'.

    League is quite different with much of the rucking 'n mauling replaced by tackles 'n 'play-the-balls'

    'League' is pretty big in Northern England, the East coast of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand's North Island & some of the older industrial towns of France. Although no where near as big as Union.

    Also 'League' probably translates better to the small screen than any other football code

    Football (Soccer), American Football, & Aussie Rules are great games to watch live, but they don't really translate well to the small screen (the games are too spread out). For example take the srimmaging & forward pass of American Football, which don't work well at all on telly (too much going on all over the place).

    Where-as 'league' is perfect for telly - the camera just has to follow the ball to get all the action of almost continued 3 on 1 tackles.

    Check this game here (Windows Media Player + broadband, unless you want a postage stamp size screen).

    Yes you can now watch both Rugby League Test Internationals & 1st grade Club Rugby League on the web.

  15. Information for Americans by innit · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here is some information on Rugby for our American viewers. It's basically like your version of "football", except with a number of differences:

    • The players don't wear massive amounts of padding like the poofters that play American football do
    • There's none of this "having a rest every 5 minutes" rubbish. It's constant action from start to finish
    • No helmet is used by the players. Instead they use insultating tape to stick their ears to their heads to prevent them from getting ripped off
    • It's played in wet, muddy fields, not on specially treated multicoloured tarmac with dedicated areas laid out for cheerleaders
    • The commentators aren't nearly as irritating, although most of them are Welsh so obviously we're not perfect on that one

    There. Now if you could do the same for us every time Thanksgiving/Independance Day/Labour Day comes around, we'd be most awfully grateful.

    Bung ho, chaps

    Stuii!

    1. Re:Information for Americans by Grab · · Score: 2

      Well, what else is there to do in Wales? Fighting, singing, in-breeding and sheep pretty much covers your entertainment options... ;-)

      (hope the moderators don't look this deep in the nesting! *grin*)

      Grab.

  16. Battery power by _ganja_ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if there is a way of powering the camera using the balls own inertia? Kinda like the wrist watches that don't use batteries and don't have to be wound? Maybe that technology is behind current battery technology but the ball certainly will do a lot of moving.

    --

    A journey of a thousand miles starts with a brutal anal raping at airport security

    1. Re:Battery power by mmol_6453 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The only problem is you'd be taking energy out of the ball's spin, and that would affect the trajectory.

      --
      What's this Submit thingy do?
  17. Too True by DABANSHEE · · Score: 2

    :)

  18. There was no standard English spelling then by DABANSHEE · · Score: 2

    When Webster wrote his dictionary there was no standard official spelling for English words (both 'color' & 'colour' were ok)

    Webster's dictionary set the standard for American English.

    Later (on the other side of the pond) standard World English was set in stone.

    Now I happen to prefer the spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary, over Webster's spelling.

    But as English is a evolving language niether is right or wrong.

  19. Hockey is Ice Hockey by DABANSHEE · · Score: 2

    Ice Hockey came 1st, so when one talks about 'hockey' they mean Ice Hockey'

    Field Hockey only came later.

    1. Re:Hockey is Ice Hockey by armb · · Score: 2

      > Ice hockey borrowed its name from the older sport, same as water polo or table tennis or squash raquets borrowed their names from older sports.
      > If you go outside of North America and start talking about hockey, people will assume you are talking about "field hockey"".

      Yep - I played hockey at school, but if the pitch was frozen we went on a run instead.

      (And squash raquets is normally known as just "squash" here, though it is descended from rackets (http://www.rackets-online.co.uk/history.asp?keyfl d=1)).

      --
      rant
  20. you missed the main difference .... by taniwha · · Score: 2
    in rugby you're only allowed to perform mayhem on the person with the ball .... other than that Rugby is evry bit as violent as US football - plus they don't stop for add breaks (in many way it's more like soccer - the game keeps moving and doesn't stop for everyone to regain their breath every few minutes).



    Of course the really tough Rugby playesr are from Tonga/Samoa/Fiji .... not only do they not play with padding or helmets .... but boots too ....

  21. I was waiting for someone to catch that by DABANSHEE · · Score: 2

    fair dinkum