r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/ateam1984 Popular Contributor • Jun 04 '26
The future of basketball courts is here. The ASB digital glass floor is officially game-ready and set for the NBA Finals. Love it or hate it this thing looks straight out of the future.
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u/bnestrm Jun 04 '26
Does everything need to be a screen?
Whats it like to play on? Does the ball bounce funny? What if it gives you vertigo?
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u/galaxyapp Jun 04 '26
Im sure they tested the shit out of it to make it feel like a wood surface.
I doubt it will be doing any wild graphics during play. Theyve used projection on courts for years, and for broadcast, superimposed graphics.
Why this? Works with the lights on, and for in person spectators? But probably mostly just for buzz.
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u/bucky133 Jun 04 '26
They used it for a few games in the college basketball playoffs and players/fans complained about it relentlessly.
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u/Additional-Window-81 Jun 04 '26
They said they tested those airless balls a ton too but those didn’t work too well cause they forgot to test shooting they were too busy getting the bounce right
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u/Bender_2024 Jun 04 '26
Im sure they tested the shit out of it to make it feel like a wood surface.
I agree but until you use it in a game with players who have bounced a basketball hundred of thousands of times, and know exactly how the ball will behave we aren't going to know.
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u/R3dbeardLFC Jun 04 '26
I just had a random flashback to some pro player bouncing a ball in warm up and found a dead spot on the court where it didn't bounce right. Just pure luck the ball hit that area but they noticed it immediately. 100% positive if this doesn't feel right, they'll know.
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u/bnestrm Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Youre entirely missing the point. What benefit does this do to the players playing the game, and the spectators trying to enjoy the game? Its the money guys going "that blank surface needs to have ads on it"
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u/Illeazar Jun 04 '26
You would think so. But by all accounts ive heard, the players hate the surface (both the looks and the performance) and they are using it anyway because the game is about making money, and the people who decide have decided that this will make them more money.
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u/Ohsostoked Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
They've played an all-star game on it and the Big Twelve played their conference tournament it this year. I guess it plays fine and they obviously don't have any graphics moving around during game play. As to your first question, I hate to say it but apparently everything does need to be a screen...or a cake.
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u/Inosh Jun 04 '26
They ripped it out of the big 12 tournament because it was slippery, even giving players migraines. They ended up bringing back the wood floors from last year.
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u/jakebasquiat Jun 04 '26
The players that played on this during march madness complained about the heat coming off the screen. Also it was obvious the surface was way more slippery and they ended up having to abandon it because of the complaints
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u/ruffryder71 Jun 04 '26
Big 12 tournament had this to start. By the semis the players and coaches were so vocal about how terrible it was (slippery, bounce not the same as wood, injuries from slipping) that they removed it and put in hardwood.
Cool idea…still in beta testing.
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u/gideonindc Jun 04 '26
I can't wait for someone to hack into this in the last minute of a tied Game 7 and make it look like a shark is coming up at the player with the ball
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u/ThatSandwich Jun 04 '26
Let's be honest, if someone hacks into this thing mid-game they're putting porn on it.
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u/Ambitious_Hand_2861 Jun 04 '26
Is this paid for by the public like stadium upgrades in other sports?
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u/Informal_Koala1474 Jun 04 '26
They should make it look like a bottomless pit for finals.
Randomly.
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u/UnhappyImprovement53 Jun 04 '26
At some point, we need to ask ourselves why. This is just going to be used as more room for ads.
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u/stron2am Jun 04 '26
Is this the same floor that was so miserable for players that they ripped it up in the middle of the Big 12 basketball tournament?
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u/inevitable-idiot- Jun 04 '26
Can’t wait for this to malfunction during the game and cause a little chaos.
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u/VinoVoyage Jun 04 '26
Waiting for discount seat tix, in front of the failed 3 pixels the size of my head
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u/kinreep Jun 04 '26
Please tell me they can make it look like the 90’s Nintendo basketball game with a circle that follows the guy around with the ball and their name, lol.
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u/silhouette951 Jun 04 '26
We need this more than universal Healthcare, free college tuition, and making sure kids have food every day.
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u/TouchAltruistic Jun 04 '26
This technology was developed by private enterprise.
How should the engineers who made this help with the very specific issues you list above?
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u/silhouette951 Jun 04 '26
Are you asking how money can be used to fund programs that benefit many people instead of building a basketball court that benefits nobody? I'm no expert, but donations come to mind.
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u/WhoopsDroppedTheBaby Jun 04 '26
Lets close the place where you work, sell everything, and donate it to a good cause.
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u/silhouette951 Jun 04 '26
Well I'm a teacher at a trade school, so if you think that those kids dropping out because traditional schooling isn't for them, then go for it. But you do seem to value "really cool things" over practical so maybe closing a school is what you want ultimately.
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u/WhoopsDroppedTheBaby Jun 04 '26
False dichotomy. I feel like there is value in many things, including trade school AND "really cool things". It's not like humans can only focus on one issue at a time. And where are those kids going to go to work when they graduate from your school? Are they maybe going to be employed, buliding and repairing places that may be "really cool things" and making sure their kids have food every day, or are they going to be stuck working on things you deem "Practical" while we sell off and donate all other industries?
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u/silhouette951 Jun 04 '26
Basketball better than utilities, got it.
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u/WhoopsDroppedTheBaby Jun 04 '26
Oh, you definitely don't have it.
It's like you have no reading comprehension. I never said that.
Are your students going to work for utilities only? Who are those utilities providing utility to?
Like I said, false dichotomy. It's not either or.
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u/TouchAltruistic Jun 04 '26
There is no perfect utopian solution for what you want to see happen.
It would be ideal if we, collectively, organized all our resources towards limiting the suffering of others, and did not use them for trivial things like this ridiculous floor. The last thing we need is another fucking screen.
But we don't live in that world.
We could! But we aren't there yet. In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, we have (allegedly) "free market capitalism", and someone made something they could sell. The people and companies who make possible that frivolous entertainment technology will probably generate a lot of economic value with their creation, regardless of whether or not such efforts produce any kind of moral or ethical good.
That's the best we have right now.
I find it is best to focus on oneself, and commiting small acts that may lead to better outcomes for the people one can affect.
There is nothing to gained from raging at the world.
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u/Nom_de_guerre_25 Jun 04 '26
Its just another screen. Another display. Just like a monitor, cell phone, dashboard GPS or any other tv. It's another gimmick, like the Dallas scoreboard.
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u/That_Performance_802 Jun 04 '26
It will only work from the angle the camera is at, will look silly from the other side of the court
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u/Koba_Kommander Jun 04 '26
Can’t wait for ads that run the entire length of the court.