SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE, 1 April 2009 – To help in the search for new Australian rules football talent, Google, in partnership with the official supplier of matchballs to the AFL, Sherrin, has developed a new football that incorporates industry-leading sporting and online technology.
The ball, dubbed the gBall, contains new GPS and motion sensor technologies, with data interpreted by special algorithms, all developed in Google’s Sydney headquarters.
Detailed information is available at www.google.com.au/gball.
The gBall will be used in all school and amateur competitions – and will go on sale to the public at sporting goods retailers – this weekend.
Users can plug in and register their gBall online, using a simple interface. The gBall’s inbuilt GPS and motion sensor systems will monitor the location, force and torque of each kick. The data is interpreted by a new curvilenear parabolic approximation algorithm developed in Google’s Sydney office, known as DENNIS ("Dimensional, Elastic, Non-Linear, Network-Neutral, Inertial Sequencing"), which plots the ball’s trajectory, accuracy and distance.
Using artificial intelligence technology, Google can provide users with detailed online kicking tips, style suggestions and tutorials based on their gBall kicking data.
Kicking data is also sent to national talent scouts and player agents. The gBall will vibrate if talent scouts or player agents want to make contact with the user. Users can then log in to their gBall account to make contact.
As an added bonus, anyone who misplaces his or her gBall will be able to search Google Maps to locate it.
"Quite simply, this is the killer footy app," said Alan Noble, Head of Engineering at Google Australia. "Google is no longer just searching for web results. We’re searching for the next Buddy Franklin, Tony Lockett or Darren Jarman. We’re thrilled to work with Sherrin to launch this incredible technology."
Chris Lambert, Managing Director of Sherrin, said: "The Sherrin-Google partnership is like meat pies and a beer – great on their own, but even better when put together at the footy. We’ve been making footballs for 129 years, but this is the most advanced ball technology anywhere in the world."
Google Australia
Rob Shilkin
rshilkin@google.com
02 9374 4091
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.google.com.
Labels: Australia new announcements
