Nevada_Ballin
07-13-2009, 11:23 AM
This is pretty cool, kinda like calling a play in Madden:
BY JEFF DARLINGTON
jdarlington@MiamiHerald.com
Michael Huyghue was skeptical at first.
Even as the commissioner of the upstart United Football League -- a role that tends to require a more open mind than the big dogs of the NFL -- Huyghue figured his meeting with a Miami-based technology group would yield nothing more than a quick chat.
''To be honest, I thought it was going to be a total gimmick when I heard about it,'' Huyghue said. ``So when we went in there with our coaches, we were blown away. We thought it was an incredible concept.''
It might be only a matter of time before other leagues, even the NFL, also find themselves buying into an invention by the Isaac Daniel Group that could change the way coaches and quarterbacks communicate during games.
Picture this: A coach decides from the sideline what play to run and pokes a handheld touch-screen terminal, immediately sending an encrypted signal to a thin, digital device embedded into the armband of the quarterback in the huddle.
Upon transmission, the quarterback's armband vibrates, displaying the name of the play and a graphic depicting the assignments of each player. It all happens in an instant, eliminating the potential pitfalls caused by crowd noise or audio miscommunication.
The product is called ID Coach, and although information about it has yet to be released publicly, the Isaac Daniel Group granted The Miami Herald an early look. The implementation of the product is in its earliest stages.
''We have a road map to move from where we are right now to where we want to be in the future,'' said Isaac Daniel, the scientist who invented the product. ``Our goal is for NFL and the UFL and even the NCAA to be able to use it.''
So far, Daniel has convinced one of those leagues to sign on. The UFL, which will begin play in October and could soon serve as the only active developmental league for the NFL, has decided to implement the product during its inaugural year.
Convincing the NFL will be a different task. The Isaac Daniel Group introduced the product to several NFL coaches and quarterbacks at a luncheon in Tampa before this year's Super Bowl.
Recently, some coaches weren't willing to endorse the product publicly, even in the wake of the luncheon. Instead, younger players, such as Browns quarterback Brady Quinn, were more willing to embrace the product's potential.
In a text message to The Miami Herald, Quinn said he thinks the concept is interesting and makes sense.
''It could give a huge advantage to the offense and eliminate a lot of the distractions such as crowd noise, since all communication would be through ID Coach,'' Quinn said. ``There would be some barriers to entry [into the NFL], though.''
Those are the barriers Mike Stibila, the company's chief operating officer, is working toward addressing. In an e-mail, Stibila said ``since the launch [with the coaches and players], we have shrunk the device by 35 percent, put it into an impact/water resistant case and designed a new wristband.''
There are several other solutions that have helped alleviate some of the questions the NFL might have before considering the product.
In terms of security, the company boasts that it would take no less than eight hours for the military to break the encryption code sent from the coach's handset to the quarterback's device.
Also, the quarterback's device has been layered with a fluorescent translucent so no camera would be able to view the play from any angle. And with a product that continues to become slimmer, it also could become more appealing.
Rest of story > http://www.miamiherald.com/615/story/1137836-p2.html
.
BY JEFF DARLINGTON
jdarlington@MiamiHerald.com
Michael Huyghue was skeptical at first.
Even as the commissioner of the upstart United Football League -- a role that tends to require a more open mind than the big dogs of the NFL -- Huyghue figured his meeting with a Miami-based technology group would yield nothing more than a quick chat.
''To be honest, I thought it was going to be a total gimmick when I heard about it,'' Huyghue said. ``So when we went in there with our coaches, we were blown away. We thought it was an incredible concept.''
It might be only a matter of time before other leagues, even the NFL, also find themselves buying into an invention by the Isaac Daniel Group that could change the way coaches and quarterbacks communicate during games.
Picture this: A coach decides from the sideline what play to run and pokes a handheld touch-screen terminal, immediately sending an encrypted signal to a thin, digital device embedded into the armband of the quarterback in the huddle.
Upon transmission, the quarterback's armband vibrates, displaying the name of the play and a graphic depicting the assignments of each player. It all happens in an instant, eliminating the potential pitfalls caused by crowd noise or audio miscommunication.
The product is called ID Coach, and although information about it has yet to be released publicly, the Isaac Daniel Group granted The Miami Herald an early look. The implementation of the product is in its earliest stages.
''We have a road map to move from where we are right now to where we want to be in the future,'' said Isaac Daniel, the scientist who invented the product. ``Our goal is for NFL and the UFL and even the NCAA to be able to use it.''
So far, Daniel has convinced one of those leagues to sign on. The UFL, which will begin play in October and could soon serve as the only active developmental league for the NFL, has decided to implement the product during its inaugural year.
Convincing the NFL will be a different task. The Isaac Daniel Group introduced the product to several NFL coaches and quarterbacks at a luncheon in Tampa before this year's Super Bowl.
Recently, some coaches weren't willing to endorse the product publicly, even in the wake of the luncheon. Instead, younger players, such as Browns quarterback Brady Quinn, were more willing to embrace the product's potential.
In a text message to The Miami Herald, Quinn said he thinks the concept is interesting and makes sense.
''It could give a huge advantage to the offense and eliminate a lot of the distractions such as crowd noise, since all communication would be through ID Coach,'' Quinn said. ``There would be some barriers to entry [into the NFL], though.''
Those are the barriers Mike Stibila, the company's chief operating officer, is working toward addressing. In an e-mail, Stibila said ``since the launch [with the coaches and players], we have shrunk the device by 35 percent, put it into an impact/water resistant case and designed a new wristband.''
There are several other solutions that have helped alleviate some of the questions the NFL might have before considering the product.
In terms of security, the company boasts that it would take no less than eight hours for the military to break the encryption code sent from the coach's handset to the quarterback's device.
Also, the quarterback's device has been layered with a fluorescent translucent so no camera would be able to view the play from any angle. And with a product that continues to become slimmer, it also could become more appealing.
Rest of story > http://www.miamiherald.com/615/story/1137836-p2.html
.