ESPNcricinfo launches the much-loved Hawk-Eye feature online, on-demand!
ESPNcricinfo, the worlds leading cricket website, today announced the introduction of the online version of the much-loved television feature, Hawk-Eye. Hawk-Eye online is being introduced as a new feature for the ongoing Champions Trophy, where it would be linked to the wildly popular ESPNcricinfo Scorecard, as a pop-up, during live matches.
Hawk-Eye online will be similar to the one seen on television, but with added advantages of convenience and choice since it is offered online. This would serve as a convenient utility for all those discerning cricket fans who can analyze in leisure a particular aspect in the cricket field. The service also offers customization feature for users to select specific dimensions for the graphical analysis, making it essentially a desktop query tool.
Hawk-Eye systems are based on triangulation, using images and timing data provided by multiple high-speed video cameras located at different locations and angles around the area of play. The system rapidly processes the video feeds by a high speed video processor and ball tracker. A data store contains a predefined model of the playing area and includes data on the rules of the game. The system generates a graphic image of the ball path and playing area which means that information can be provided to judges, television viewers or coaching staff in near real time.
The pure tracking system is combined with a backend database and archiving capabilities so that it is possible to extract and analyze trends and statistics about individual players, games or ball to ball comparisons etc. The system was first used during a Test match between Pakistan and England at Lord's Cricket Ground, on 21 April 2001, in the TV coverage by Channel 4.
Hawk-Eye in ESPNcricinfo will be an on-demand, customizable feature, which increases interaction and involvement in the game for fans away from a television. Aircel, who is the presenting sponsor on ESPNcricinfo for various key international series is sponsoring the Hawk-Eye offering on ESPNcricinfo during the Champions Trophy. It promises to be an extremely sticky product offering and together with ESPNcricinfo's favorite ball-by-ball text commentary, it ensures that users don’t miss any part of the action happening in South Africa during the mini world cup.
About ESPNcricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is a wholly owned subsidiary of ESPN Inc. - the world’s leading multimedia sports entertainment company. Ranked number one in all of its major markets, ESPNcricinfo now reaches more than 13.7 million users every month. The site was founded in 1993, and its continuing success is built on the combination of live ball-by-ball coverage of all Test and one-day international matches, news and features written by some of the world's best cricket writers, and in-depth statistics on every one of the approximately 3000 international and 45,000 first-class cricketers to have played the game. The site's reach, authority and brand recognition are unrivalled in the online cricket world. And ESPNcricinfo now reaches beyond the Internet - fans can get ESPNcricinfo content on mobile applications and on some of the world's leading internet portals.
