International Business Machines Corporation

Guandong Zhu

Shuyan Lu

Chuan Ran

Yongchang Cui

Junhui Wang

Yang Yang

Pu Yang

Disclosed are techniques for quantifying physical qualities of a ball returned by a player using a loop drive technique, such as in table tennis, and generating a corresponding quantitative summary of the overall quality of the loop drive technique based on the quantified physical qualities. Image processing techniques are applied to historical video recordings of balls returned using loop drive techniques to quantify physical properties of said balls. A machine learning model is generated using the quantified physical properties to determine relative significance of specific qualities and their corresponding quantified values to the overall quality or success of loop drive techniques, such as in table tennis matches.

Capturing and quantifying loop drive ball metrics

Disclosed are techniques for quantifying body postures of a player employing a loop drive technique to strike a ball, such as performed in table tennis activities. A video recording of a player striking a ball with a loop drive technique is received and divided, using image processing techniques, into two segments: the first concerning player body postures before the ball is hit, and the second concerning body postures from the moment of impact between the ball and racket and the subsequent follow-through body postures. Then, image processing techniques are again leveraged to isolate and quantify specific body postures contributing to a loop drive technique in a given segment.

Capturing and quantifying body postures

Disclosed are techniques for leveraging machine learning to generate posture adjustment values for specific body postures of a player to improve loop drive techniques, such as in table tennis. Video clips of a player hitting a ball with a loop drive technique are analyzed to determine values for specific body postures and qualities of the ball after being hit. A machine learning model is generated to analyze relationships between body posture values and ball qualities. Upon receiving a video clip of a live session of a player hitting a ball using a loop drive technique, the machine learning model is used to generate adjustment values for body postures of the player to impart improved loop drive qualities to the ball, such as faster topspin.

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Raleigh, NC, United States of America

Guandong Zhu