KVH Industries is sending its fiber optic gyros (FOGs) to the National Football League. The Middletown-based company that specializes in fiber optics, autocalibration and sensor technologies will be making it easier for football fans to guess whether that quarterback-sneak, screen pass or smash into the middle of the defensive line has resulted in a first down.
KVH will in essence be lending a hand to Sportvision, Inc., a New York company that came up with the Emmy award winning “1st and Ten” system. It is a computerized system that installs or “paints” a yellow first-down line across the television screen to indicate where the team with the ball must cross for a first down.
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The KVH FOGs will enhance the stabilization of that yellow line. To counter the effect of stadium vibrations on “1st and Ten” cameras and to help maintain accurate positioning of the televised first-down line, the KVH system continually monitors movement and adjusts the line accordingly.
Data indicating the direction and degree of camera movement is fed continuously into a Sportvision computer that calculates how the first-down line must be shifted to compensate for the motion.
For viewers, the yellow line appears to be stationary – just like the actual white line on the field. Sportvision will be using the KVH technology for ABC, ESPN and Fox football broadcasts this fall.
While the deal with Sportvision is not so monumental in terms of scope or size, it should provide the company with a unique opportunity to show off its capabilities, said Jim Dodez, KVH’s vice president of marketing and sales.
KVH deals mostly in satellite communications. The company’s clients vary greatly, though about a third of its business is represented by military contracts.
”Anything that needs to look a long distance – such as military binoculars – is a good candidate for one of these gyros,” said Dodez. “For example, we aim radar and antennas for ships.”
The FOGs, said Dodez, are “modern mechanical replacements for mechanical gyros.” He sees the potential of the FOGs as limitless and in fact, expects more military work to emerge.
”We haven’t gotten involved in the air much yet, but we see aviation as a huge market,” he said.
Playing on the NFL stage – in front of millions of viewers throughout the course of season – is an enormous plus for KVH, said Dodez.
”It is an important demonstration of our technology,” he said. “It is a great showpiece for this potential.”
Sportvision Chief Executive Officer Bill Squadron found what he was looking for in the KVH FOGs. The FOGs are considered especially reliable in part because they have no moving parts to wear out or require maintenance, and no cross-axis sensitivity to vibration or shock.
“In our tests, KVH FOGs provided exceptionally fast and precise measurements of our system’s extremely small camera movements, which must be duplicated to give the appearance that our computer-generated line is actually painted on the field,” said Squadron.
KVH President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Kits van Heyningen said he is excited to be working with Sportvision, calling the relationship between the companies “a very visible and entertaining use of our fiber optic technology.”
Founded in 1998, Sportvision develops technology-based enhancements for sports on the Internet, television and new media platforms. Headquartered in New York, the company has research and development facilities in California and Kansas.
In addition to its Middletown headquarters, KVH Industries – founded in 1982 — has offices in Illinois, Florida and Denmark. The company employs about 170.
