Got Smarts?

Anyone who has played soccer knows how frustrating it can be to determine if the ball has fully crossed the goal line. The combination of a 3D sphere, a 2D line and perspective variation (with possible obstruction) is just plain hard to handle. Still, players and refs have handled it for decades. Recently it was announced that Adidas, working with Germany's Cairos AG and Fraunhofer Institute, is testing and developing an "intelligent" soccer ball designed to end goal-line controversies. The ball contains a microchip that senses when the ball crosses the goal line. Referees outfitted with earpieces hear a transmitted beep once a ball makes a goal. FIFA, the international football association, tried out the ball in the Under-17 World Championship this year in Peru, and the ball may be used in next year’s World Cup in Germany.

I'm sure there are those cringing at the thought and saying "Why are we doing this?" I had similar thoughts myself, but then I went home this past weekend to celebrate my father's birthday. On the morning of this special day I went downstairs and greeted him with a hearty "Happy Father's Day!" He stood there looking perplexed and awaiting my admission that it was a silly joke on my part. Sadly it was no joke. I didn't realize what was wrong and my father had to remind me that we've already done the Father's Day thing this year. As if this weren't bad enough, when he opened his gifts and cards, the card from my mother read "Happy Anniversary!"

Today's world isn't the one my parents and grandparents grew up in. Apparently senility sets in before retirement age. Young, healthy men and women are losing basic mental processing and storage capabilities. The microchip in the soccer ball is only the beginning. It's a subtle way of pushing that technology to where it is really needed - inside my brain.