BRITISH university boffins are helping to pioneer a phone app which uses AI to scout the future footie stars of the Premier League.
Aspiring players film themselves completing on-pitch training drills before uploading them to free mobile program aiScout.
Artificial intelligence then analyses the videos against hundreds of performance metrics to search for the next Jamie Vardy.
Prem clubs like Chelsea and Burnley and US top-flight MLS already use ai.io’s technology to find tomorrow’s superstars.
It has now teamed up with Loughborough University’s Computer Science department to enhance the analysis of clips.
The collaboration came through the government backed Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme which connects businesses with unis.
Chelsea and Burnley already take up to a dozen players on trial each month through aiScout, which has a worldwide database of almost 100,000 footballers.
The biggest success stories include Jez Davies, who signed a pro contract at Turf Moor, and Ben Greenwood who played for Bournemouth.
Professor Baihua Li, one of the uni’s project’s leaders, said: “This partnership showcases how our fundamental research can drive innovation in industry, create new technologies, and benefit athletes and organisations worldwide.
“By working with ai.io, our Computer Science team is driving innovation that transforms how sporting talent is discovered and developed, while creating exciting opportunities for our researchers and students to shape the future of sports technology.”
Dr Chris Howe, Research and Innovation Lead at ai.io, added: “By embedding Loughborough University’s expertise in AI and computer vision directly into ai.io’s operations, we are already seeing significant advancements in our technology, enabling early talent detection and identification, and enhancing amateur and professional sports performance.”
