I went inside FIFA's secret World Cup lab, and the 3D scanning tech I found there could change football forever
The future of football is being decided six floors underground at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich.
Past the meditation suite made from Afghan onyx and the congress room that could pass for the United Nations Assembly Hall, Lenovo technology is being infused into every layer of the beautiful game in time for this summer's World Cup.
The VAR makeover
VAR's grey stick figures are finished. All 1,200 players at this year's tournament are being individually 3D scanned before a ball is kicked to produce a photorealistic digital twin — accurate to the millimeter — for faster, more precise offside calls.
Under the current system, a 6ft 5in Erling Haaland and a 5ft 7in Lionel Messi appear the same height. "Our mind is leading us to think: if it doesn't look real, it's probably not that adherent to the context," says Dr. Valerio Rizzo, the Lenovo neuroscientist who built the system.
"For...
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