Hawk-Eye: Augmented reality in sports broadcasting and officiating

Abstract

Hawk-Eye is the camera based ball-tracking system that enables players to challenge line-calling decisions on the courts of major tennis events such as Wimbledon. The author uncovers the machine vision technology behind the verdict on the big screen. He describes how the International Tennis Federation tested and accredited the system as an officiating aid and the technical challenges overcome to meet their stringent criteria for accuracy and reliability. He also reveals the pitfalls encountered in taking a vision system out of the lab and attempting to integrate it into the unforgiving world of broadcast television in remote corners of the earth.