At the start of this year I wrote about the ‘quantified tennis court’.  It’s been developed by a Swiss company, called Technis, and aims to provide insights such as surface impact, game performance, and even training challenges to help you hone your skills.

The technology is embedded within the court itself and monitors the players as they move about the court.  In addition to providing basic tracking, it can also add an augmented reality layer to proceedings.

For instance, players can set themselves goals or challenges, such as hitting particular targets on the court, or to compare their current performance with past performances, or even with pros that have loaded their data into the system.

Quantified ping-pong

Not to be outdone, a new product aims to provide similar analytics for table tennis players.  The Table Tennis Trainer has been developed by Thomas Mayer and provides players with real-time data both during and after a game.

As you can see from the video below, the table has a distinctly gaming style to it, with players logging in using their custom paddle that is then connected up to a personal profile that’s complete with statistics from past games.

The table is then transformed by a couple of overhead projectors into an interactive display, with webcams recording the game as it unfolds.

The system is able to monitor the action as it unfolds, tracking the technique of the players and providing feedback via a data filled dashboard.

Suffice to say, the project is still in a very nascent stage, and Mayer needs manufacturing support to bring the product to market, but it’s certainly a fascinating project that could revolutionize how we play, and train, for table tennis.

I very much encourage you to check out the video below to see the table in action.