Judging in Athletics

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Originally Posted by BobH

I suppose, only way to really find out would be to try it out for a suitable time period.

Bob

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If only they would.

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Originally Posted by Brenngun

Why does this still exist? It only leads to controversy. Multiple cameras feeding a computer system with appropriate algorithm should solve the issues. Why does this not exist right now?

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There are a couple of reasons why that wouldn't be any better.
for starters, the algorithm could be tuned to a certain athlete or style. It could be hacked or have intentional back doors. And it leases out any freedom to award point based on things that the algorithm was specifically designed for. And you'd have to put the athletes in a 3d modeling suit with those white dots on the outside.

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Originally Posted by Brenngun

But once it's done .... it's done. Could it be ....oh ..... ah .... difficult to coerce a computer program? Just thinking out loud is all.

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No. It could have bugs or flaws in the recognition algorithm. It could fail to detect or understand certain things. It could be tampered with or tailored. It would be software so definitely able to be hacked. You remember when they introduced those new body scanners at the airport that let the TSA folks see your skin. And remember how it would be impossible to get pictures off it so it would not be a privacy concern? Yeah... :) that didn't last too long.

If you put your faith in software, you're in for a nasty shock. and I say that as someone who has been developing software and databases for the last 20 years.

The technology is on the way, so I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it wasn't possible. The xbox kinect uses body motion without a suit, but is no where near as nuanced to just plug and play. The only way to keep it from most modern hacking would be to keep it secured during transportation and while it was working. This would include keeping the system offline at all time. You would just need to display the ratings and update the bracket. However, I think that much of the draw to certain segments in the olympics is the controversy.