CHIP AND CHANGE: POWER BAT TECHNOLOGY TO CAPTURE BAT SPEED, POWER OF THE SHOT

Former India spinner Anil Kumble’s company Spektacom on Thursday launched a new innovative technology called Power Bat in Mumbai. Developed with the support of Microsoft, the Power Bat technology provides real time data on four parameters of batting—quality of the shot, bat speed, the twist and power of the shot. Apart from providing players inputs to understand their game better, the technology, which has been used in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) this year, is aimed at making cricket broadcasting more interesting.

DURABILITY AND DURATION

The chip is rechargeable and has wireless charging support.

—It takes 90 minutes to fully charge it.

—Once fully charged, it lasts for 48 hours.

—Price is not decided yet.

VIEWER INTERACTION

In real time, broadcasters will be able to provide fans with complete insights on batting technique of players in the middle.

Fans can also analyse and compare their favourite players using the yardsticks of bat speed, quality of shot, twist of bat and power of shot.

SIMILAR TECHNOLOGY

During the 2017 Champions Trophy in England, some of the Indian batsmen used bats with a chip (introduced by the International Cricket Council through the help of their innovation partner Intel) embedded in the handle. The chips recorded and analysed performance of batsmen and later images from the chip were downloaded via software into computers for analysis.

Similar technology is in use in sports like golf and baseball as well.