You wouldn’t think so, but did you know that the European Championship ball and your iPhone have a few things in common? Here’s what it is!
What the European Championship ball and your iPhone have in common
Not only your iPhone is getting more functions and is becoming smarter, objects that you might not expect it from are also using more and more smart techniques. For example, the ball that they will use at the 2024 European Championship even has some functions in common with the iPhone.
The smart ball (just like the iPhone) contains sensors that can measure orientation and movement. These sensors can register a tap on the ball. For example, during this European Championship of 2024, a handball by Openda was registered during the match between Belgium and Slovakia that the referee would otherwise have missed.
These sensors are not the only smart functions in the ball. There is also a kind of tracker in it. This ultra-wideband sensor in the EC 2024 ball is comparable to the U1 chip in the iPhone.
Using the antennas around the pitch, the chip can determine the location of the ball on the pitch during the 2024 European Championship, a bit like the location determination of the iPhone works. Handy to see if a ball has just gone out of the field … or not. This is the first time they are using such a ball during a European Championship. The ball already had this sensor during the 2022 World Cup.
You also don’t have to worry about those chips affecting the movement of the ball. They weigh just over 10 grams. An official football for the 2024 European Championship may weigh between 410 grams and 450 grams. So those few grams don’t really matter there either. The device is also exactly in the middle of the ball. So the players don’t have any trouble with that either.
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