2014 is almost synonymous with wearables. This is the year that has seen every company parade its wearables to the world and those that haven’t yet are likely working day and night to deliver them. While the wearable category is broad, one has stood out so far and is after standalone fitness trackers also extremely popular as far as attention is concerned. The smartwatch. The smartwatch will also be getting a lot of mention when the 2014 FIFA World Cup gets underway in Brazil later tonight. All the match officials involved in overseeing the 64 matches of the World Cup will wear a smartwatch that will alert them everytime the ball crosses the goal line indicating that it is indeed a goal.
The word GOAL will pop up on the official’s watches everytime a goal is scored. This is part of the measures introduced by world football governing body FIFA to stem out errors that have ended up ruining fortunes of some teams in previous tournaments. The smartwatches are part of the central system deployed for that specific purpose that is universally known as goal-line technology. The watches just tap in to make things easier and in real-time (it takes just under a second for all officials to be notified) so that they don’t have to rely on their headsets. The referees get the information in real time so that their final decision in allowing or disallowing a goal is informed by facts. While this feels like we’re slowly removing the element of human judgement from the game in favour of machines, referees will still be at liberty to make independent decisions though we don’t see them going too far.
Source: Goal Control
Via: Gizmodo
