Have you ever watched a rugby game where the sports networks cameras focus on the ball as it moved between the players? These are things you can’t readily see from the stands, but when you have a camera focused down between you can see all the power plays, strength, shoving and pushing. It’s amazing how much brute force is involved in the sport. This is not for weak men, rugby is a real man’s sport, it’s for the toughest, strongest, and most agile. Still, I’d like to see even more nuance added to this game, I’d also like to see some modern-day technology brought into focus. Let’s talk.
I have a new concept. It would be applying a haptic pressure sensitive digital system to the rugby ball. The rugby ball would change colors based on how much pressure was put upon it, it might even make sound. The more pressure which was put on it, the more digital video cameras would turn on to watch things from the ball’s point-of-view in more directions. You might think that this is going a little bit too far, but the reality is we do have the technology, we have haptic sensors which could be embedded under the skin of the rugby ball, and they are light enough not to change the feel of the ball, only allow the players and the fans in the stands to more fully enjoy the game.
A digital display billboard could show which players had the most strength, or which ones applied the greatest force onto the ball. I recommend 64 panels with haptic sensors, eight of which would be video camera enabled, 16 of which would be sound panels, 16 for lighting effects, and the rest would contour the players hands as they pushed onto the ball making it easier to hold onto. The strongest players would have the advantage, and those players that hit the hardest would be rewarded with applause from the crowds.
No, I’m not trying to make a mockery of the sport, I am trying to keep it alive, keep the spectators paying money to come to the stadium, and provide another generation of fans. This would also make it fun to watch it on TV, meaning you’d have more sponsors, higher pay to the athletes, and therefore the best athletes would pursue the game as a career. We need to keep rugby alive. It shows the true human spirit in competition at its finest. Indeed I hope you will agree. Please consider all this and think on it.
