1. Courtesy of iRobot; 2. Courtesy of Sony; 3. Courtesy of GoalControl GMBH; 4,5: Getty Images
Half a million soccer fans will visit Brazil to attend this summer’s World Cup—but they won’t be seeing the same game as in years past. The pitch will feature some impressive new technologies, starting with a ceremonial kickoff by a paralyzed teen outfitted in a mind-controlled exoskeleton. Here’s what’ll come next.
1 | PackBots
Instead of clearing bunkers and crossing minefields in Afghanistan and Iraq, 30 iRobot 510 PackBots will check suspicious packages and provide extra surveillance at the dozen World Cup venues.
2 | 4K Broadcast
Sony and FIFA will broadcast the July 13 final match live in super-high-res 4K. Carriers who devote the bandwidth will get four times the resolution of 1080p— making it nearly impossible to fake being fouled, right?
3 | GoalControl
Fourteen video cameras mounted high in the stadium—seven pointed at each goal—capture the ball’s exact position and send a vibrating signal to the ref’s wrist watch when it passes the goal line.
4 | Vanishing Spray
Argentinian sports journalist Pablo Silva tested hundreds of foaming emulsifiers to come up with this shaving cream like product, which evaporates within two minutes.* Refs will use it to mark off free kicks.
5 | Brazuca Ball
A record-low six panels makes for less water uptake and fewer seam defects. Plus, the cool panel shape means no large smooth areas— the source of the knuckle-ball effect that plagued the last two FIFA balls.
*Correction appended [4:12 p.m. PST/6/11]: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to sports journalist Pablo Silva as Brazilian. He is Argentinian.
