Terminator glasses give umpires birds eye view

No it’s not the terminator, it’s an Aussie Rules umpire and the glasses he’s wearing could be the future for not just umpiring but coaching in the AFL.

This high-tech eyewear is being trialled at the Landmark Australian Country Football Carnival – currently underway in Canberra – and according to State Umpiring Manager for AFL NSW, Graham Glassford, they are definitely the future for training umpires.

“These glasses are sensational – they really give a bird’s eye view of what the umpire is focusing on,” Glassford said.

“Of course there are some limitations because you don’t get peripheral vision that a person picks up but as a coaching tool to individuals or group of umpires it has awesome potential.”

Provided by the Australian Sports Commission, the glasses have a built in camera and microphone and are fitted with a memory stick that can download images and sound into a computer for playback. Several umpires at the Landmark carnival have been asked to use them and provide feedback.

Graham Glassford says the glasses are the next big thing in terms of training new umpires.

“These glasses have so many possibilities. One avenue is to use the footage gathered from wearing the glasses and then use split screen technology to play it back in line with the footage of a filmed match.

“You would see what position the umpire is in, what he’s seeing and it would give us a unique opportunity to teach new umpires where they need to be to make the best decisions in a game.

“The glasses also record sound and because it’s so vital for an umpire to communicate effectively – both with other umpires and players – being able to hear what they’re saying would be a fantastic learning tool. In a volatile situation sometimes a rookie umpire may say the wrong thing and that might not help settle the game, so to be able to play that back and teach them the right way to handle it would be really worthwhile.

The umpires at the Landmark Australian Country Football Carnival have been asked by the Australian Sports Commission for their feedback on the glasses and from all reports they are very impressed with the technology.

“While I haven’t worn them myself in a game the guys who have say they are terrific,” Glassford said.

“They are a bit bulky and you do look like a terminator man out there but after the first minute or so they don’t even notice they’re got them on.

“I’m really pleased we’ve been able to use them at this carnival. It puts us at the cutting edge of technology and from my perspective it’s great that the organisers of the carnival are happy to have them used here. It’s also fantastic for the umpires who’ve come from all over the country side to officiate here have the chance to up skill themselves.

“From my point of view the next stage for this technology is to use it over the next month of so and at the end of the football season sit down with the Australian Sports Commission and talk through ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’. Hopefully we’d then work with all the states and implement them for use when training young umpires.

So will we see AFL umpires wearing the glasses any time soon?

“I’d love to see maybe not so much in AFL premiership game but maybe at the start of next season where there is a practice match and we can put these on an AFL umpire and then see what they do and then show it to new umpires. It would give them a real understanding of where they need to be and what they need to do from an umpiring perspective not just a camera angle.

“Wouldn’t it be great if that footage could be beamed into a laptop for a coach to see on the sideline – then they could see the game through the umpire’s eyes and would give coaches direct feedback,” Glassford said.

Mr Glassford believes the technology would not just be beneficial for umpires but could also be used to train AFL coaches.