Artificial Intelligence (AI)- driven analytics and drone technology are set to revolutionise the coaching of the Singapore national swim team. Developed by researchers from the Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), this innovative system will provide coaches with a powerful tool to analyse swimmers' performance.
The team, in a collaborative effort with Singapore Aquatics (SAQ), is currently working to produce real-time analytics of swimmers at the National Training Centre (NTC).
"This exciting research can potentially elevate our sporting performance by making coaching more precise, efficient and cost-effective without huge investments in computing hardware. Real-time insights from video analytics are proving to be a valuable tool in helping coaches to fine-tune their training strategies with greater accuracy," saidSMU Professor of Computer Science Rajesh Balan.
How it works
The drone, positioned about eight metres above the swimmers, captures video images of their performance. These videos are then downloaded and analysed by custom analytics and user interface (UI) software.
The analytics software, powered by AI models and computer vision algorithms, assesses stroke duration, swimming velocity, and the symmetry of the swimmer's moving body in real-time. Coaches can then access these results on a tablet device, gaining a deeper understanding of the performance through video analytics and the custom UI.
Gary Tan, national head coach (Swimming) at SAQ, expressed his enthusiasm, saying: "Innovation is the key to shaping the future of elite sports, and this research is an exciting step in exploring new ways to analyse our performance."
"In projects like these, where drones and AI-driven analytics work alongside coaches, we see how human-AI interaction can lead to more precise, actionable insights that ultimately improve outcomes," Assistant Professor Kenny Choo from SUTD's Information Systems Technology and Design pillar and Design and Artificial Intelligence programme.
