COE AND OVETT COULD COMPETE IN 2008 OLYMPICS THANKS TO SIEMENS TECHNOLOGY
28 November 2005 - Siemens UK

The picture shows Sir Roger Bannister, who ran the first four-minute mile in 1954, leading (Lord) Seb Coe who broke eight world records in middle distance running. At the front of the chasing pack is Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj who currently holds the records for the fastest mile and 1,500m. Picture is for display purposes only, not for publication.

Britain's great athletes, such as Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, could be seen competing against today's best thanks to scientists at Siemens who are developing an innovative experience for TV viewers of major athletics championships.

As runners race around the athletics track, broadcasters could superimpose a ghost-like image of the world record holder or historical great onto the track. Although invisible to the runners, TV viewers would see where the record holder was in relation to the athletes in the live event.

The inventor hopes the system, called Ghost Runner, will provide added excitement for people watching middle and long-distance races.

Patricia Roberts, a consultant engineer at Siemens' UK research facility, Roke Manor Research, near Southampton, said: 'If an athlete is aiming to break a world record, commentators can only give comparative lap times of the current record to viewers. But with Ghost Runner, viewers would be able to see exactly where the record holder was throughout the entire race.

'Ghost Runner could also be used to show where some of the former champion sprinters would finish in today's races or even to create virtual races, with great runners of the past competing against each other.'

Ghost Runner involves studying historical TV footage of races and calibrating the record holder's position on the track alongside athletes running the live event. It uses innovative 3D visual technology developed by Siemens.

http://www.siemens.co.uk

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