Technology takes to the field at the World Cup in Qatar

What is about to begin in Qatar will be the most technological world cup ever. Sensors, chips and cameras will improve the experience of fans traveling to the stadium and provide referees with real-time data to make decisions. There is already a winner in this World Cup, and that is technology.

More than a million fans will travel to Qatar to follow the World Cup in this small nation that has a total of two million citizens, more than half of whom are concentrated in Doha. The country will welcome more tourists in a month than it has had in its entire history. This large influx of people will be managed through an AI-based system. The organization of transport, traffic lights, road signs, directions and the self-driving metro will be monitored in real time and modified according to the recorded flows. Sensors distributed at intersections and along paths on walls, sidewalks and street lamps will collect data on traffic intensity and temperature in order to prevent critical situations.

A lot of technology will also be present inside the stadium. For the first time ever, the ball will have a chip inside. The sensor, positioned in the centre of the ball, will be able to communicate with the stadium operations centre 500 times per second, detecting when the ball is kicked and detaches from the player’s foot. The chip will coordinate with the cameras, used to record the movement of the ball and the players on the field, to give life to a new semi-automatic technology for offside.

12 tracking cameras will be mounted under the stadium roof to track the ball and the players’ movements. Each player will be associated with 29 data points that include all limbs and extremities of the body relevant to making offside decisions. They will be monitored 50 times per second, calculating the exact position on the field. By combining limb and ball tracking data and applying artificial intelligence, the new technology will provide an automatic offside warning. The whole process will take place in seconds and will ensure greater accuracy than that offered by the current VAR technology.

Once the offside is confirmed by the referee, the same position data will be used to create a 3D animation that will also be shown on the giant screens of the stadium to spectators. Furthermore, at the end of the match, the players will receive, via an app, an analysis of their performance on the pitch, detailed statistics on distances covered, speed thresholds, balls intercepted, lost and played, errors, successful passes and covered field areas.

People in the stands will be able to wear t-shirts with wearable systems capable of measuring emotional response. Low-power sensors printed directly on the fabric will connect each shirt to those of other fans and to a base station via Bluetooth. It will be possible to monitor vital signs in real time, such as heart rate, breathing, temperature and sweating, to obtain the sensations experienced by the audience who will see the matches or to prevent medical emergencies.