The NBA is experimenting with a digital brain for basketballs.
The system is the brainchild of SportIQ, a Finnish startup that develops smart basketballs.
Inside each balls valve, SportIQ embeds a sensor that tracks a players shots.
Data is first extracted on their form, position, angle, power, and technique.
Next, the information is fed to a mobile app for AI analysis.
Players then receive direct feedback and advice.
According to SportIQ, over 20 million shots have already been tracked.
The company estimates that regular users improve their shooting accuracy by 12%.
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The results impressed bigwigs at the NBA.
They revealed this week that SportIQ has beenselected forLaunchpad, the leagues tech incubator.
During the six-month program, SportIQ will gets hands-on support and resources from the NBA to develop its tech.
Erik Anderson, CEO of SportIQ, said the process will integrate his companys system at basketballs highest level.
This partnership opens doors to opportunities that are rare for startups, Anderson told TNW.
Building smarter basketballs
Basketball is at the root of SportIQ.
The startups founder, Harri Hohteri, is a former professional player and computer scientist.
The sport is also ripe fordata-driven disruption.
SportIQ is also a rare example of a European consumer tech firm breaking into the US.
According to the startup, thousands of Americans buy its smart basketballs a year.
Launchpad provides a chance to increase those numbers.
SportIQ is the only European company in the program this year.
The squad earned their spots after pitching innovations that address Launchpads key objectives.
SportIQ will also benefit from targeting these objectives.
But the NBA is just a starting point for SportIQ.
As Anderson puts it: Every ball can be smart.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
