"Wednesday February 14 07:23 PM EST
Wireless Science Meets Major League Baseball
By J.B. Houck, Wireless.NewsFactor.com
First it was display screens on the back of ballpark seats. Then it was wireless info beamed to personal digital assistants (PDAs). Now Major League Baseball will further embrace wireless technology with a new tool to measure batters' strike zones.
QuesTec, Inc. announced Wednesday it has signed a five-year agreement to provide a customized version of its pitch measurement technology to help league officials examine the recently expanded strike zone during games.
MLB said it will pay QuesTec an undisclosed fee for the development, now in the final stages, of the new PitchTrax version.
QuesTec also has been contracted to install, operate and maintain MLB's new Umpire Information System (UIS).
System Tested in 2000
A prototype of the UIS was unveiled for the 2000 Arizona Fall League to a group of major league umpires and baseball officials who were given free access to the system and to QuesTec's development team. The system subsequently met accuracy requirements specified by the Office of the Commissioner.
Testing will resume next month during spring training in Arizona. Once testing is complete, system installation will begin in stadiums designated by MLB.
"We expect that this new technology will further enhance the capabilities of our major league umpires," said Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations for Major League Baseball.
"QuesTec technology goes far beyond pretty pictures on TV," said Ralph Nelson, MLB's vice president for umpiring. "It is truly the intersection of science and baseball."
Multiple Cameras
The UIS uses QuesTec's proprietary wireless measurement technology, which measures information about game events that would not be available any other way. This technology was mentioned in a Scientific American article in September, according to QuesTec.
The ball tracking component of the system uses cameras mounted in the stands near the first and third baselines to follow the ball from the moment it leaves the pitcher's hand until it crosses the plate. Along the way, multiple track points are measured wirelessly to precisely locate the ball in space and time, QuesTec said.
This information is then used to measure the speed, placement and curvature of the pitch along its entire path. The entire process is fully automatic, including detection of the start of the pitch, ball tracking, location computations, and identification of non-baseball objects -- such as birds or windswept debris -- moving through the field of view.
QuesTec said its technology requires no changes to the ball, the field of play or any other aspect of the game.
MLB Skeptical at First
"Both MLB executives and the umpire community were understandably skeptical at first, but after seeing our technology in operation, everyone began to see the quality of the information and the many uses for it," said QuesTec chairman Steven B. Greenfield.
"We always hesitate when someone suggests our technology could be used for officiating, but we believe MLB and the umpires have gotten this just right," Greenfield added. "With the UIS, we can contribute to the quality of the officiating process without intruding into the game or disrupting baseball's traditions."
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