Slashdot Mirror
Artificial Intelligence to Predict Sports Injuries
nakhla writes "MSNBC.com is running a story on how an Italian soccer team is using artificial intelligence to predict sports injuries. The team is working with Computer Associates to develop neural network technology that can be combined with daily tests of the athletes to determine patterns which occur right before a player gets injured. Of course, one has to assume that it wouldn't be able to predict a player getting kicked in the head in the middle of the game, resulting in a concussion." I was wondering how to tie a World Cup story into Slashdot. Congratulations to Senegal.
Do you think that could predict my driving patterns and tell me the next time I will most likely cause an accident? I think the focus should be more on prevention, but what the hell, they're Italian...
Calm down, it's *only* ones and zeroes.
i'm guessing that at least 9 out of 10 non-football fans wouldn't have a clue who AC Milan is. Almost anyone can recognize the meaning of "an Italian soccer team"
besides what is intersting about this article is not the team itself, its the way they are using the technology to attempt to predict future injuries.
PS wtg Senegal, go Azul!!!
One thing that everyone seems to be missing is that being able to predict injuries implies the ability to prevent them. Not through inaction but rather through preventative medicine such as physical therapy to strengthen certain muscles around a particularly dodgy ligament or something.
Such AI would also be useful in correcting improper training--if someone is slowly degrading their ankle/rotator cuff/lower vertebrae/what have you by doing something slightly wrong, such tests and analysis could predict the injury before it happens, allowing the coach/trainer to stop the athlete from doing that bad thing any more.
He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
As someone who has (believe it or not) played sports his whole life (baseball, basketball, football, basically any sport except soccer cause eye foot coordination ain't my bag) I don't think this will work. Sports are just too damned random. Even as the example in the article showed, ole Renando or what ever the hell his name is, blew out his knee on the treadmill. So, what happens when you get 9 fielders and a runner or two on the field and the guy running to first tries to avoid the tag and rolls his ankle severely, or hits a foul ball off his leg, lands on another players foot going for a rebound, gets blind-sided by a 300+lb lineman, etc? This may work in the example listed about treadmills, but will not work in the actual field of play. So, the only real tie-in to sports here is that this soccer (ok, ok, futbol) team has a multi-million dollar investment that was hurt in a mundane activity (treadmill running) and wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. Until it can predict when a player will be hurt before he is in the field of play, come talk to me.
;-) (tongue in cheek, mods, so pull that ruffle back out of your panties :)
Semi-OT now:
What's up with the silly little cards used in soccer? (futbol) It's rather silly. How did it develop? DO people really care? Oh no, I got a piece of plastic pulled out on me, I'm so scared. Yes, I know that it is serious when someone gets red-carded, but the actual act of being penalized is lame as hell. Thoughts? What would be a better system? Everytime a foul is committed the opposing player who was injured gets to power-slam the offender? Sounds good to me. Would make soccer more fun to watch
Sent from your iPad.
Why do Americans hate soccer so much? I'll admit here in Canada it's not as popular as everywhere else in the world, but most Canadians have a great respect for the game.
In fact, everyone that I know is pumped about the World Cup. We even worked our work project schedule around it, as we realized productivity will be low this month.
Seriously, what is it? Is it not manly enough for you? As if baseball is a real physical sport...
North America's view (excluding Mexico) of soccer really sucks. It's an amazing sport -- funny that the rest of the world seems to think so too.
Damn, u simply couldnt be more wrong..
Seriusly, half the players playing football (the entire, oftenly very FAT defensive line springs to mind) could never be even ½ good at soccer. Because its a game not filled with 20something breaks to make room for all the commercials, no you have to actually RUN the entire game, 45*2 minutes. That why u need to be fit, not a fat football paying fuck.. That couldnt catch a retired old lady if she was to steal his crotch strap.
Oh, yeah btw. "football" is ruby for sissies.. did'nt you know?