United Kingdom, 2006-Jan-10
Britain’s biggest football stars may have to watch their language in future thanks to scientists at Siemens’ research and development facility. Siemens’ experts are developing an innovative new microphone, called Universal, which pinpoints sound sources and separates them from background noises so fans can hear exactly what players are saying on the pitch.
Since the start of the 2005-06 football season last August, the FA Disciplinary Commission has had to deal with 91 separate cases already. Of these incidents, a staggering 42% were dealing with players breaching FA Rule E3 – abusive and/or insulting words towards match officials.
If Siemens’ latest innovation is introduced, the FA will be able to quickly assess the remarks of players and issue suitable disciplinary action, saving both time and money, particularly when cases are disputed. Players will also have to be extra careful or risk further suspensions as the technology could potentially be used to pick out bad language in a post-match sound-analysis.
Players such as Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, who have both been dismissed this season for dissent towards referees, are idolised and watched by young children up and down the country. As role models, they therefore have a responsibility to set a good example, a view shared by the referees’ chief, Keith Hackett, who made it clear at the start of the season that abusive language will lead to a red card.
“Damage is done to the game by such behaviour," said Hackett. "What happens on a Saturday afternoon in games watched by millions often filters down to the parks on a Sunday”.*
Currently sporting events use gun microphones to pick up sounds directly in their path. This creates two main problems. Firstly many sounds are not picked up as they are out of the range of the microphone. Secondly background sounds, such as the crowd, corrupt the sound being targeted.
Scientists at Siemens believe that their new Universal Microphone eliminates this problem by using an array of sensors and isolating the individual sounds with the help of a sound mixer.
“In the future we will see this type of system applied to a vast number of sports such as boxing, horse racing and rugby as it will improve sound quality and make the viewer feel as if they are involved in the action”, said one of the inventors Dr Dean Thomas, Consultant Engineer, Siemens’ UK research facility, at Roke Manor Research, near Southampton.
(* Quote published 6 August 2005, following the FA’s launch of a poster campaign to clampdown on players using abusive language during football matches.)
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 162 years ago. The company employs 21,122 people in the UK, including about 5,000 in the manufacturing sector. With annual revenues of £3 billion, including exports of almost £500 million, Siemens provides innovative, high-quality services and solutions to customers in a diverse range of industry sectors comprising: power, automation and control, information and communication, medical, transportation, lighting, and household.
Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Bracknell, Berkshire. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany.
Mr. Andrew Scales
Kinross + Render (on behalf of Siemens plc)
Further information
Tel: +44 (0)20 7592 1990