Professional sports teams can create fanatics, haters, and endless debates, but the interesting changes being implemented with technology in various leagues has made for a better game, although we’re sure some would argue differently. From instant replay, Wi-Fi enabled stadiums and multiple view cameras for fans technology is being impressively installed in various points of the gaming experience.
Though not implemented yet in major sports leagues the FANs Cam has incredible potential to change the way sports is experienced. Imagine you were Lebron James, Wayne Rooney, and Sidney Crosby or Tiger Woods seeing what they see in real-time experiencing the game the same way they do. FANs Cam can make that possible by letting you see what they see.
The athletes’ point of view hasn’t been very well realized in popular sports. Goalie cams and headband cams have made their way into All-Star events, but they don’t seem to have been effectively optimized for regular season gameplay. They either look too bulky or are not fitted for the sport resulting in athletes and leagues not adopting the technology. Sheng-Hung Lee and Chan Wai Yeh, students at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, have taken on that challenge and developed FANS Cam.
With their hardware and software combination, a QR code is embedded onto your ticket stub. Simply scan it with your mobile phone, and each code gives you unique access to a player’s perspective with a minimally designed camera affixed to a player. The min-camera and microphone attaches to a player with a small clip providing spectators with a real-time feed of the action. You might wonder though how does such a small device keep charge over the course of a 2.5 hour game? The FANs Cam generates power using the athletes’ body heat and ambient temperature as a thermoelectric chip receiving the displaced energy, always insuring fans never lose contact from an athlete.