No More Guesswork: AI Coaches Analyze Everything Down to Facial Expressions

[Anchor]

With the Asian Games just a week away, artificial intelligence is playing a major role in the national team's training. By analyzing even the most minute movements of the athletes, AI is helping to not only improve performance but also establish tactical strategies.

Reporter Choi Seung-hun has the story.

[Reporter]

As a practice match for the women's field hockey national team gets underway, a drone takes to the sky.

The AI tracks the movements of the players from the drone footage, displaying the distances between them and the spaces each must cover.

In the past, it was difficult to tell whether the gaps between players were properly maintained, but now they can be checked immediately through the AI analysis screen.

[Kim Ji-eung / Researcher, Korea Institute of Sport Science: By utilizing AI, we can use time more efficiently and generate (analysis footage) much more quickly.]

The athletes can review the analysis footage and incorporate it directly into their next plays.

[Lee Yu-ri / Captain, Women's Field Hockey National Team: We can immediately figure out how we need to move and where we should position ourselves well....]

Coaches are also supplementing tactics analysis, which previously relied heavily on experience, with precise data.

[Kim Yong-soo / Head Coach, Women's Field Hockey National Team: We used to rely purely on a coach's intuition, but now through equipment like this, we can analyze opponents in advance and craft customized strategies....]

At the shooting range, AI examines the posture of each individual shooter.

When an athlete stands at the firing line like this, the artificial intelligence recognizes joint positions to analyze how stable the angle and movement of their posture are.

At the same time, it detects changes in facial expressions to monitor moments when unusual reactions appear during the shooting process.

[Jang Gap-seok / General Manager, National Shooting Team: By measuring things like the angle movement of the athlete's gun and the swing speed, we deliver these to the coaching staff so they can be reflected in the athletes....]

AI plays an especially important role in checking whether athletes can maintain their movements during training that simulates distracting situations, such as applause and music from actual matches.

[Jang Tae-seok / Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute of Sport Science: I think it has the advantage of being able to lead to confidence, based on objective data, that 'I am doing well right now.']

AI is also being actively utilized in other sports to analyze opponents.

AI, added to the dedication of sweat, is helping athletes hunt for medals.

(Photo / Video: Shin Jin-soo, Park Hyun-chul | Video Editing: Park Sun-soo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.