basketball

People have been casually playing football, soccer, and ultimate frisbee on the beach and at picnics for decades, but basketball? Not so much. Now that's about to get a lot easier with Uball, a portable, easy-to-set-up hoop and backboard that even has its own unique game rules.

​While people are fairly fussy about things like bicycle tire pressure, they tend to be a lot more blasé when it comes to inflating basketballs – even though a ball's pressure can greatly affect its performance. The Innoflate Perfect Pressure Needle is designed to help … by whistling.

Though special edition models have offered lucky individuals a taste of this in recent years, Nike is preparing to launch a new self-lacing basketball shoe for the masses that can also adjust its fit on the fly.​

They started as special edition sneakers modeled on Marty McFly’s high-tops from Back to the Future II ​in 2011, but thread-by-thread Nike’s self-lacing sneakers are edging closer to something the average Joe could own.

The 90s were a truly great era for basketball and for motorcycling, so a German shoe shop has decided to combine two absolute 90s legends – Michael Jordan and the Ducati 916 – into a custom bike to celebrate the launch of the latest Air Jordan sneakers.

The Toyota Engineering Society has created an android that scores baskets better than professional basketball players. Named CUE, the robot reportedly uses artificial intelligence to learn to shoot better than players from Japanese B League team Alvark Tokyo.

​The NCAA March Madness Live VR app offers a virtual seat to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Starting with the "Sweet 16" games in San Jose, viewers have a variety of viewing options for watching the collegiate tournament in VR.

Few of us have access to a professional coach to help hone our basketball skills, but sports technology company Onyx Motion hopes now you can at least get a decent proxy with upcoming smartwatch app Swish. It analyzes your shots and helps you improve them with personalized tips and detailed metrics.

Two new studies from Disney Research show the power of deep data analysis in sports. One resulted in a model that accurately predicts whether a basketball player will pass or shoot in a given situation, while the other identifies player roles in soccer from the context of each moment.

Balls made for organized sports are designed to be used at a specific hardness, which is why the TorrX was invented. It's a portable electric pump, that automatically inflates or deflates a ball in order to reach a given pressure.

Shot statistics and analysis can reveal a treasure trove of useful information about a basketballer's game. The ShotTracker is a system that relies on wearable technology to track your shooting success, providing insights into your strengths and the areas in need of improvement.

LEDs are being phased into use everywhere from living rooms to offices to car headlights to street-lighting. Whilst these uses are practical, for something a little more exciting we can look to Nike. Its House of Mamba basketball court uses an LED surface for graphics, video and player-tracking.