Surbiton_Trophy_Programme_2017
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Left: Hawk-Eye.<br />
Below: a virtual reality<br />
headset.<br />
eavesdrop on the conversation they have with<br />
their players? Imagine being privy to conversations<br />
between Andy Murray and Leon Smith during the<br />
Davis Cup final. Or listening in as Johanna Konta’s<br />
coach Wim Fissette analyses his protegée’s serve.<br />
Tennis player statistics is another intriguing<br />
element of the sport. Using something known<br />
as augmented reality, it should soon be possible<br />
to point your smartphone at a tennis player<br />
on the court and immediately receive all the<br />
live statistical data you could possibly want.<br />
What’s Roger Federer’s heart rate as he serves on<br />
championship point at Wimbledon? What speed<br />
did Andy Murray just bash down his serve at? Give<br />
me all the biographical details on that unknown<br />
Japanese player competing at <strong>Surbiton</strong>. Easy.<br />
Simply point your phone and press. A split second<br />
later you have the live data on your screen.<br />
Augmented reality is already used in sports such<br />
as American football, rugby, cricket, swimming, ice<br />
hockey, motor racing and snooker. It won’t be long<br />
before tennis jumps on the bandwagon.<br />
City-Insights is a London-based technology<br />
company that offers augmented reality (via<br />
Imagine a drone swooping<br />
across the entirety of <strong>Surbiton</strong><br />
Racket & Fitness Club, giving<br />
viewers a bird’s-eye vista of all<br />
the action, and zooming in on<br />
the most intriguing matches.<br />
people’s mobile phones) for visitors in museums,<br />
city centres, property, retail, universities, parks<br />
and sports venues. They recently discussed with<br />
the All England Club the possibility of offering<br />
Wimbledon spectators augmented reality<br />
features such as archive photos and video footage,<br />
statistical data on players during competition, and<br />
background stories from club groundsmen and<br />
employees.<br />
Sarah Mallock is one of the company founders.<br />
She believes that, in the future, many tennis<br />
tournaments will offer extra video, photographic,<br />
audio and analytical features through spectators’<br />
mobile phones.<br />
“The ultimate would be if you could point your<br />
phone at players in a match and watch as a second<br />
layer of information appeared on your screen,” she<br />
says. “We are unfortunately a long way from the<br />
full VR headset experience being available through<br />
the average smartphone but I am sure it is all<br />
heading that way.”<br />
It won’t be long.<br />
www.LTA.org.uk/aegonsurbitontrophy @<strong>Surbiton</strong><strong>Trophy</strong> 15
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