Who's Watching Who at the Super Bowl?

James Murray contributed to this article.

February 3, 2006 - Sony, Panasonic, and the other big camcorder manufacturers will almost certainly make a showing during this Sunday’s Super Bowl XL commercial breaks, but the camcorder’s presence has permeated further than ever this year. On the field and at the gate, video technology will be used to scrutinize every aspect of the game.

Television viewers around the globe will witness one of the biggest video advances – the first all high definition (HD) Super Bowl game. All 36 cameras will shoot in 720-line progressive scan HD. No expense is spared. The HD quality continues on down the line, through the Avid and Final Cut Pro editing systems and even the two-way radios on the sidelines.

The breakdown of cameras involved, according to news sources, includes: 20 Grass Valley LDK 6000 Worldcam HD (six of them being LDK 6200 Super-Slo Mo units), seven handheld LDK 6000 (two of these also being the LDK Slo Mo’s), a host of robotic cameras, a Sky-Cam, a SteadyCam, and mounted cameras throughout the field. 
 

While all the technological wizardry on the gridiron may delight fans, the Super Bowl can be a logistical and security nightmare for officials. Over 65,000 ticketed fans will pass through the gates of Ford Field, with countless more in the Detroit area to take part in the festivities.

Grass Valley's LDK 6200 Super-Slo Mo camera, bringing you all the bone breakage in excruciating HD-quality.

The Department of Homeland Security has stepped up their presence, announcing earlier this week their choice of the LifeVision3D holographic imaging system for security use. The LifeVision3D technology was developed for over a decade by Intrepid Defense & Security Systems, a company located in Birmingham, MI.

LifeVision3D technology displays live three-dimensional holography which is capable of producing images that display shadows, angles, and depths in an attempt to visually provide more information than would be possible with conventional security camera systems. According to Intrepid’s CEO James Fishbach the LifeVision3D system is able to produce, “true, live-action 3D,” that eliminates the use of cumbersome viewing set-ups like goggles or special eyeglasses.

Although Homeland Security was guarded in explaining how the technology would be applied, it will most likely be used for facial recognition of crowds both inside and outside Ford Field. LifeVision3D can also be applied to scanning the undersides of cars. Unsubstantiated reports indicate that it may even be possible to perform underwater imaging – a feature falling under the category of “classified methods of searching for and detecting potential threats” according to the press release. LifeVision3D’s other military applications include enhanced land mine detection, tele-operation of unmanned vehicles, x-ray scanning, and the analysis of images and information gathered by unmanned aircraft.

With a patent still pending, Intrepid Defense and Security Systems states that the LifeVision3D technology system is now ready for production and commercial sale. The company sees the technology being useful for “government agencies, the military, entertainment, medicine and just about everyplace where people are starting to appreciate what they can accomplish with live-action 3-D holography,” according to Fishbach. LifeVision3D has already been used during controlled precision surgery at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital.

Ticket holders, beware: you may be there to watch the game, but someone is there to watch you, too.