中國(guó)網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
南非世界杯官方比賽用球“普天同慶”雖然被國(guó)際足聯(lián)稱(chēng)為最精準(zhǔn)的足球，但是球員和球迷們卻對(duì)這個(gè)科技含量不高的足球頗有微詞。為此，墨西哥的幾位設(shè)計(jì)師打算自主研發(fā)一款高科技足球，將攝像頭、燈泡和GPS芯片等設(shè)備融入球體內(nèi)，在比賽過(guò)程中可以隨時(shí)通過(guò)球體看到比賽回放，球在越過(guò)球門(mén)線(xiàn)的時(shí)候會(huì)發(fā)出顏色鮮明的燈光，這樣就可以杜絕英德大戰(zhàn)中英國(guó)進(jìn)球被誤判那樣的情況出現(xiàn)。該設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)的負(fù)責(zé)人表示，近幾年足球設(shè)計(jì)改革都是在做表面文章，沒(méi)有實(shí)質(zhì)性的改變，沒(méi)有人考慮過(guò)足球會(huì)對(duì)比賽產(chǎn)生怎樣的影響。目前，這個(gè)設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)正在研究如何才能將攝像頭、電源、芯片以及感應(yīng)器這些設(shè)備放入重450克的足球里，同時(shí)還要研發(fā)出能夠從飛速運(yùn)行的球體攝像頭拍攝中獲取穩(wěn)定視頻畫(huà)面的軟件。他們面臨的另一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)是，要選擇怎樣的合成材料制作足球才能夠在妥善保護(hù)球體內(nèi)高科技設(shè)備的同時(shí)，還經(jīng)得起賽場(chǎng)上激烈的踢踏和碰撞。
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This year's World Cup ball, the Jabulani, has been criticized for seemingly weightless shots sailing over crossbars, wobbly trajectory and goalkeeper blunders. |
If a grooved World Cup ball can upset some of the game's best players, how would they react to a ball packed with cameras, lights and a GPS chip?
A team of Mexico City-based designers are trying to revolutionize soccer with a ball that could beam out TV replays and light up in bright colors when it crosses the goal line to clear up any refereeing gaffes, like the one that cost England a goal on Sunday in its 4-1 World Cup loss to Germany.
"What we wanted to do with this ball is to demonstrate how a product that historically has not changed can be innovated and taken in a completely new, completely different direction," said Alberto Villarreal, a industrial designer who is leading the project in a country where soccer is a national obsession.
This year's World Cup ball, the Jabulani, has been criticized for seemingly weightless shots sailing over crossbars, wobbly trajectory and goalkeeper blunders.
Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar has likened the Jabulani to a cheap supermarket ball and Argentina star Lionel Messi has said playing with the ball was "very complicated."
The seamless, groove-covered Jabulani, whose name means "to celebrate" in Zulu, was billed as the most accurate ball yet when it was unveiled by the game's governing body FIFA.
"Innovations in balls in recent years have been superficial, nothing more," said Villarreal, 33, from the project's studio office in Mexico City. "But how a ball can influence different game conditions hasn't been considered."
At their office, a team of five young designers pore over screens working out the hitches of jamming cameras, a power source, chips and sensors into a 450-gram (1-pound) ball.
Challenges facing the project include creating software to stabilize images captured from multiple cameras in a rapidly spinning ball.
Designers have yet to decide on a synthetic outer material that will behave like a traditional ball but protect its delicate interior from heavy kicks and impacts from posts and crossbars. The ball will not be inflated.
Villarreal has kept the research and development costs under wraps and plans to be able to sell the design to a major ball maker in two years.
But getting a blessing from FIFA will be difficult even if the ball eventually behaves like a traditional ball.
"FIFA has always been a bit opposed to the entrance of technology in football while it's happening in other sports," said Villarreal.
Mexico City-based ball maker Voit, whose balls are used in professional Mexican soccer, is optimistic it will become a viable product and could be interested in manufacturing it.
"For this ball to be approved by FIFA it must meet certain characteristics," said Carla Colombo, Voit's marketing director.
"Maybe it won't pass the tests but it could perfectly be part of a national or international line of balls."
相關(guān)閱讀
阿內(nèi)爾卡被炒 法國(guó)隊(duì)集體罷訓(xùn)
索尼無(wú)頭公雞廣告嘲笑法國(guó)隊(duì)世界杯出局
(Agencies)
Vocabulary:
refereeing gaffes: 裁判失誤
（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Helen 編輯）
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