Method and apparatus and program

1. An apparatus for determining the position of a sporting projectile within a scene during a time interval in which the sporting projectile is hidden from the view of a camera, the apparatus comprising:

an interface operable to receive a first sequence of images of the scene captured by the camera at a first predetermined frame rate before the time interval and a second sequence of images of the scene captured by the camera at a second predetermined image rate after the time interval;

a sporting projectile detection device operable to detect the position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image in the first and second sequence of images;

a velocity detection unit operable to determine the velocity of the sporting projectile before the time interval on the basis of the detected position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image in the first sequence of images and the first frame rate and the velocity of the sporting projectile immediately after the time interval on the basis of the detected position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image in the second sequence of images and the second predetermined image rate; and

a sporting projectile position determination unit operable to determine the position of the sporting projectile during the time interval using at least one of the detected position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image within the first and second sequence of images and the determined velocity of the sporting projectile immediately before and immediately after the time interval.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , in which the first sequence of images and the second sequence of images of the scene comprises a predetermined line and in which the sporting projectile position determination unit is operable to generate a indication signal in the event that the position of the ball is determined to have crossed the predetermined line.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the sporting projectile position determination unit is operable to generate the indication signal when the position of the sporting projectile is determined to have crossed the predetermined line by a distance greater than the radius of the sporting projectile.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the predetermined line is a goal line.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the sporting projectile position determination unit is further operable to calculate the position of the sporting projectile in accordance with the deformation of the sporting projectile in each image within the second sequence of images.

6. A method for determining the position of a sporting projectile within a scene during a time interval in which the sporting projectile is hidden from the view of a camera, the method comprising:

receiving a first sequence of images of the scene captured by the camera at a first predetermined frame rate before the time interval and a second sequence of images of the scene captured by the camera at a second predetermined image rate after the time interval;

detecting the position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image in the first and second sequence of images;

determining the velocity of the sporting projectile before the time interval on the basis of the detected position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image in the first sequence of images and the first frame rate and the velocity of the sporting projectile immediately after the time interval on the basis of the detected position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image in the second sequence of images and the second predetermined image rate; and

determining the position of the sporting projectile during the time interval using at least one of the detected position of the sporting projectile within the scene for each image within the first and second sequence of images and the determined velocity of the sporting projectile immediately before and immediately after the time interval.

7. The method according to claim 6 , in which the first sequence of images and the second sequence of images of the scene comprises a predetermined line and in which the method comprises generating an indication signal in the event that the position of the ball is determined to have crossed the predetermined line.

8. The method according to claim 7 , comprising generating the indication signal when the position of the sporting projectile is determined to have crossed the predetermined line by a distance greater than the radius of the sporting projectile.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the predetermined line is a goal line.

10. The method according to claim 6 , comprising calculating the position of the sporting projectile in accordance with the deformation of the sporting projectile in each image within the second sequence of images.

11. A non-transitory computer program product configured to store a computer program comprising computer readable instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, configure the computer to perform a method according to claim 6 .