French inventor and amateur tennis player Grégoire Gentil developed your personal tennis hawk-eye system in his living room lab.
Known as In/Out, this is a small device which is fastened to your tennis net post. Press “On” and let the device detect which side of the net the ball is. According to Gentil, his device is 99% accurate.
The gadget has two cameras to scan the tennis court and detect its lines as soon as you turn it on. It is integrated with Artificial Intelligence algorithms to monitor the play action and track the ball’s flight. The device will provide get real-time light and sound notifications to signal if the ball is in or out.
The solution to a dispute or a close call is its video replay option on the In/Out screen. Both players can see the replay to confirm if it was in or out. There is an accelerometer inside the device that also detects let serves.
Gentil has admitted that the device is not perfect or flawless. It has a 20-millimeter error margin which equates to a precision of 2-3cm in average. Another drawback is the camera being confused if incidently a player is hindering its view and during doubles matches. Gentil suggested that two devices should be used for more precision in doubles matches. The two devices can be pre-programmed to communicate with each other.
Unlike most other similar devices in the market, In/Out also has stats analysis. The device has the ability to track the ball speed, spin and location with 99% shot recognition accuracy. It HD video presents AR overlay. Real-time calculation of player distance and position depth is enabled by the device. Position and height of the shots can be obtained. Even further analysis will give shot placement with percentage by zone as seen on TV, calculated for both players.
In/Out works fine in all kinds of courts – hard court, carpet, clay, grass – all the device needs are white lines to detect. The battery runs more than two hours in line call mode, and one hour and half when recording or streaming 1080p video.
The device will be available for retail distribution this summer.