We take you behind the scenes and inside the World's Smartest Rugby Ball.
Constant research, development and refinement helps keep Gilbert at the very top of rugby ball performance. Created by Gilbert Rugby in partnership with Sportable we have created the World's most revolutionary rugby ball.
The Rugby Revolution.
This exciting new collaboration is centred around unlocking deep performance and fan engagement insights from the Gilbert smart rugby ball
The Gilbert smart rugby ball communicates with wireless beacons around the pitch enabling powerful augmented reality graphics which can power on-screen real-time match stats such as kick distance, pass distance and territory gained and presented across broadcast and digital channels.
The patented Gilbert smart ball technology measures sporting action down to the finest detail – how fast a rugby ball is spinning, kick hand time, forward passes, accuracy of kicks to touch and much more.
Using a micro-tracking module built in, the smart rugby ball offers instant 3D tracking and trajectories at cm level accuracy with supporting proprietary smart technology and analytics platform.
The next stage?
Getting the smart ball into more elite professional and international matches and taking data use in rugby to the next level. Supporting and developing performance, assisting match officials' decisions and enhancing the fan broadcast and digital experience.
At the time of publish, the Gilbert Sportable smart ball has been successfully used in the 6 Nations, Autumn Nations Series, Super Rugby and Rugby Australia test matches.
How do we know the Smart Ball meets the highest standards in Rugby? We employ 3 levels of quality assurance.
1. GILBERT
As the world leaders in the design and manufacture of the world’s best rugby balls, Gilbert’s engineers and brand ambassadors work tirelessly to ensure Gilbert is always at the forefront of ball design.
One of Gilbert’s key brand ambassadors is Paul Grayson. Paul has been instrumental in working with Gilbert and Sportable engineers to ensure the ball is ‘for the players, by the players.’
2. LABORATORY TESTING
How do we know it meets the high standards of the best teams and players in the world? Well, we have put the Smart Ball through a series of incredible challenges and tests.
Progressive Sports Technologies. PST is a research lab that is part of UK’s most prestigious sports University - Loughborough.
Their lab is used by leading sports companies to ensure their products meet the requirements of their users.
3. TEAM PERFORMANCE
In order for Sportable to be successful in its drive to be the household name for fan engagement and officiating in rugby it must also ensure that teams are fully bought into the use of its technology.
Enter Skill Tracker. This state of the art performance technology allows teams to track and develop the skill sets of their most valuable players. Skill Tracker will tell teams how good players are at kicking, passing, throwing, tackling and scrummaging.
Through Gilbert's extensive partnership network across World Rugby, today, Sportable has elite team clients and partners around the world. Sportable is already working with these unions.
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With thanks to our friends at Sportable
