Video Analytics Is A Hole-In-One!

The perfect swing through Video Analytics

„Golf is more than a sport, marriages which were divorced, relationships, which were ended, careers which were lost because people are so keen to learn this complex movement in golf“ says Prof. Dr. Martin Rohr, passionate Golfer himself .

It is widely known that golf is a complicated game and swinging a golf club correctly is not a natural thing to do. The technique behind timing a golf shot has to be taught and has to be practiced many times before a player can achieve the perfect swing.

Video analytics helped Prof. Dr. Martin Rohr, after playing Golf for years to improve his swing movement substantially and to consequently improve his Handicap. Additionally, through the help of video analysis Prof. Dr. Rohr was experiencing a relief from his chronic back pain. By being able to closely monitor his body movements and having a trained golf pro and a physician revise the captured material, he was able to take efforts to help relieve the pain in his lumbar spine that almost made him quit his most beloved sport.

We were able to get a testimonial from Prof. Dr. Rohr about his experience in Golf with Video Analytics.

please click here to see the interview

Prof. Dr. Martin Rohr being filmed at his Golf practise

The coach Richard Foster uses detailled video analysis on each of the students. The main goal is to achieve an improvement of the playing potential. He used software called GASP Lab Golf Analysis Software.

Golf Video Analysis Software

He points out, it is crucially important to receive immediate feedback. After a lesson the player has learned how to improve addressing the ball, and having perfected this he feels his game should now improve but then he momentarily forgets the best way to control the speed of the club head during the downswing and his game suffers. Without the immediate feedback one might improve 90% the first, 70% the next time practicing but eventually fall back into same old routine. Only by receiveing constant and immediate feedback the improvement performance can be maximized.

Golf student being analysed via Video Analysis

On the market so far are so called Golf Analysis Apps that help to connect coaches and athletes around the world. These apps allow you to record and analyze videos using slow motion, drawing and comparison tools, which can then be shared to anyone in the world. You can compare videos side by side with professional athletes, watch instructional and drill videos from coaches and browse videos from other golfers in the app community.

Another new technology for professionals is called „Monitors Track Man“. This application uses doppler radar technology that has been widely used in military applications to track missiles and projectiles since the 1960s. The app has a radar unit that tracks the trajectory of a golf ball from launch to landing and has the ability to measure the full ball flight, which is essential. The golf radar can give a precise picture of the club during ball impact.

Applying „Video Analytics“ and creating algorithms that would automatically assess and analyze the player’s performance would substancially support and in some occaisons substitute  the coach and allow precise feedback right away. Furthermore many issues that are not capturable at „first sight“ can be evaluated; such as, how the motion is affecting our body and how we develop a tecnique designed for our specific needs and health issues.

That health injuries are considered while playing is a great opportunity when addressing physically challenged people – no matter to what extent. Specifically, all parts of the body would be measured during the swing and then analyzed using video analytics. This new trend and opportunity is comparable with technologies applied in other sports industries, for example running or cycling:  in running the heart rate monitor and in professional cycling the motion maesurement system that helps to practice efficiently in order to improve performance.

This opens doors to new business opportunities for many professional golf trainers. Golf is a serious business, players are extremely passionate and are have a high willingness to pay, which has great revenue potential for video analytics. 

References:

http://www.richard-foster.com/

http://www.sloansportsconference.com/?p=630

http://www.ubersense.com/learn_more

http://trackmangolf.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN4wmwQojhQ

Prof. Dr. Martin Rohr

Frederike Rohr

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE BEYOND SWEETHEARTING!

VIDEO ANALYTICS IN RETAIL STORES

There is a significant difference in video surveillance and the use of complex video analytics.  One major type of retail fraud, sweethearting, where a cashier intentionally fails to enter one or more items into the transaction in an attempt to get free merchandise for the customer, can be easily detected by a surveillance video camera that is monitored by an employee. This helps prevent losses and increase cost efficiency but does not substantially improve efficiency and increase sales since we have not captured any knowledge of what is influencing a client in a store.

Thus, understanding consumer behavior can be a very useful tactic to maximize store productivity and add value to a store’s business operations. Sucess is crucially dependand on understanding the PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESS BEHIND A CLIENT’S PURCHASE BEHAVIOR.

Video analytics comes into play by using refined algorithms that calculate what factors are influencial on the clients experience in a retail shop and DELIVERING A BEHAVIORAL SNAPSHOT of the shopper.

Surveillance captures consumer behavior

By analyzing captured video material, basic data can be collected such as the simple counting of entrance and exit data, queuing behavior and respective waiting times or the effectiveness of the customer flow within the store. We can collect traffic statistics to determine optimal staff deployment and promotional plans and optimize overall planning. This gives information about specific customer as well as employee experiences and conclusions can be drawn how they may be marketed to. Moreover, Video Analytics helps to identify potential stock cuts and reports on shelf availability. The retailer is given the possibility to establish an automated anticipation alert and is able to replace products on the shelves that are running out.

Something revolutionary about video analytics is that it allows retail managers to gain insights into customers’ interaction with the employees and analyze consumer behavior. Touch points of engagement are videotaped and analyzed, making it possible to draw conclusions out of these interactions and improve them towards the client’s desires. Furthermore we can observe which parts of the store are the most frequented and follow the customer’s buying pattern. Trough surveillance we observe the paths customers navigate through the store, observe dwell time etc. This gives valuable information as to how to arrange product placement, take merchandizing decisions, improve customer satisfaction, product promotions, optimize staff allocation and deliver valuable, personalized customer messages. Moreover, organizations can use consumer information to learn about the needs and opinions of shoppers in ways not previously possible. Big data analysis offers companies a way to identify those shoppers who are the most valuable as returning customers. DATA COLLECTION BOOSTS CUSTOMER LOYALTY. We may thus add value through better customer service and are also by utilizing the ability to influence the customer’s buying pattern subconsciously.

Video Analytics shows a motion path and the dwell time of consumers

The productivity and accurate data interpretation is also crucially enhanced by the use of Video Analytics. In order to make managerial decisions, executives need accurate and reliable information. Retail Video Analytics is providing the means to drive business decisions that rely on hard facts. Retailers used to have to draw their own conclusions from obersavation. Now, the hiring of trained personnel becomes obsolete due to an automated data analysis displayed on dashboards that PRESENT,VISUALIZE AND INTERPRET LIVE METRICTS FROM THE STORE.

References:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/xerox/2013/09/27/big-data-boosts-customer-loyalty-no-really/

http://www.agentvi.com/images/Agent_Vi_-_Retail_Applications.pdf

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4425348&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D4425348

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4959867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D4959867

http://www.retailnext.net/analytics-technology/visualization