As we’ve mentioned here on Footy-Boots.com, 2010 has truly been the year of the football. The Jabulani was the talk of the whole planet for 6 weeks, Nike secured 10,000 Premier League goals with the T90 Tracer and the FA has retracted one of Umbro’s for being too orange (or something) – but perhaps 2010 might be remembered most fondly for producing the perfect football…
Airless
Dubbed the CTRUS, this alien-looking orb is being heralded as the football of the future, thanks to it’s completely unique design.
The first selling point of the CTRUS is that it’s design is completely airless – a first for a football. This design means that the ball never looses any inflation, keeping it at optimum playing pressure.
The airless design also means that the CTRUS is perfect at any altitude,'Â which was one of adidas main excuses for the allegedly erratic performance of the Jabulani.
Transparency
But if you think a completely airless design is all the tricks that the CTRUS has up it’s sleeve, you’re in for a real surprise!
The mantra behind the CTRUS design is “Fair Play is all about Transparency” – and there’s nothing figurative about that statement!
CTRUS‘s casing is completely transparent, giving you a view of the weird structure that allegedly makes the playable – but the see-through casing isn’t just to make it look good.
At the core of the CTRUS lives an internal CPU processor that serves to do some really impressive – potentially game-changing – things that no ball has done before.
The CPU is able to process information from a GPS locator and Infra-red positioning indicators to all the ball to change colour depending on where it is on the pitch!
The first use of this would be to serve as a (relatively) inexpensive form of Goal Line Technology. When the ball crosses the line or goes out of play, the LEDs in the ball flash or change colour; they could go red when the ball’s out for a throw in – or the whole ball could flash Blue and White if, say, Chelsea score at Stamford Bridge (though if it were used with Chelsea, it’d be a bit of a waste at the moment!)!
Perspective
Not only would this provide officials and commentators with an extra pair of eyes on the pitch, designers AGENT also claim the ball’s internal CPU can record the force and speed of a kick (we’d finally know whether some football boots let you kick the ball harder than others!) and house an on-board Point-of-View camera (complete with software stabilised image technology) so we can see what the ball sees as it sails into the top corner!
Award
The CTRUS has already scored one goal for it’s designers – by claiming the coveted 2010 Red Dot Luminary Design award – so the potential of this project is clearly being recgnised by some of the higher ups in the design world.
As you can see from the pictures, Mexico-based designers AGENT are passionate about the project and are on the way to building a full prototype.
But what do you think of CTRUS? Having seen Nike and adidas spend decades trying to perfect injected moulded foams, 3D panelling and 360-degree sweet spots, we’re not sure we’d like to play a game with this space-age ball of technology (mostly because we’d break it…) but the thought of an airless ball which changes colour is definitely – for want of a better phrase – freakin’ awesome!
What are your opinions on this amazing concept?
Let us know in the comments!
Thanks to Footy-Boots.com Reader James Sawyer for bringing this awesome concept to our attention – and having a name like the bad-ass from Lost, bonus!
Hmm…freaky…
Gotta let players try these out…
still quite skeptical how the ball will feel like
It looks plasticy and hard from the picture, but really it’s hard to say without seeing it in person.
woah, this is gonna be a sick ball but it won’t benefit the masses in any way.. all that tech’s pointless for amateur leagues players like myself. I would rather they create a proper, air-inflated ball which performs. A cheaper Tracer would be great!
I won’t lie… I want one.
Amazing stuff
Price of the ball please?
It really sound promising and I’d like see it been tested by FIFA. Football that changes colours, how cool is that?
one touch from a vaopr stud and finished,
This new CTRUS football looks amazing. The idea of the whole ball being transparent and that the ball lights up a different colour whenever a goal is score, or the ball is kicked out of play, or if there is an offside. And ther idea to make the ball change to team-colours to show that the goal has been scored will prevent confusion as to whether it is a goal or an offside goal. The perfect idea!!
I’m afraid that contact points will not be as evenly distributed as on air filled ball. On an air filled ball, you have a consistent strike on every surface because the air provides and infinite number of contact points. With this ball it looks like a strike on the node will have a different effect than a strike on the flat surfaces.
If they can get around this problem it would be great, I am excited, I love tech and innovation, seeing it in a ball like this is excellent.
As creative as this is, it doesn’t seem practical. A transparent ball would have less visibility on the pitch, even if you can see the internal structure. LEDs seem good for the fans, albeit a bit gimmicky. To be honest, a lot of the features seem a bit like a gimmick.
I’d like to see it on the pitch in a game before passing any judgement though!
looks like something you’d by for a three year old
What happens if t he ball short circuits on the pitch?
The video claimed it would be able to track offsides, still don’t believe that unless maybe it flashes upon being struck so as to allow linesman to see it while focusing more on the last defender. What happens when a SG stud goes through the webbing and a player literally gets the ball stuck to his foot? Surely the webbing cannot also maintain its shape whilst pressure is applied to it all while having a material that is soft enough to warrant a person to be able to use their head to strike through it. Interesting concept but there are way too many questions that it cannot answer at the moment.
crazy idea. but FIFA would hate it. besides, the sponsors of the leagues and yearly tournaments already have specific sponsors… they’re gonna have to talk to Nike, Adidas, Umbro, Mitre etc….
football of the FUTURE, maybe. i could see this ball in an “i robot” or “minority report” kinda future. but not now…
it’s really possible. seeing classic football matches -where players wears super-short shorts, black boots, jersey with no name (only numbers), and good ol’ stitched ball with pentagonal pattern… football matches nowadays are already crazily futuristic! cyborg-looking base layers, unusual patterns on on the ball, flashy boots… flashy boots….. oh, and there’s the flashy boots too.
for now, i gotta admit that i’m still a little skeptic though… we’ll just have to keep an eye on this ball, wait and see.
Looks like a gimmick to me
got to see this tested before judging it…
I wouldn’t feel right knowing I’d be headering and kicking a computer.
I dont think this can be called a football!
what powers the cpu in the ball? if it’s batteries then this ball is destined for failure.
@ben:
dont forget technology trickles down to the masses eventually. it might be 10 years or more, but if this catches on, it will become affordable. im sure way back when players like you and me were bemoaning the fact that kangaroo leather was so expensive that no modest player would be able to afford them.
Main concern about a ball is that it must perform like Nike’s not like Adidas. It must roll well, bounce properly, be visible and consistent.
But i must say the cpu inside to flash the colour is a good idea. a transparent casing isn’t good. cpu’s can be implanted and the electric signal will come from the boundary lines instead. it’s called RFID technology.
FIFA – until sepp blatter dies and the money culture is removed will not accept this. sepp blatter the small man.
Then whats the referee’s job?? :0