>> Welcome to Microsoft Unboxed.
[MUSIC].
>> Every week we're going to be discussing
the latest and greatest stories coming out of
Microsoft and the people behind them.
I'm one of your hosts, Sonia Dara,
and here's my friend Colleen O'Brien, your fellow co-host.
>> Hello everyone.
>> So, each of us has
a set of stories that we'll share to one another.
But I don't know what Colleen is going to say.
>> Correct.
>> She doesn't know what I'm going to say.
We're going to be discussing.
>> You looked at me with, like, panic in your eyes.
>> Because I forgot the next words.
Okay. Today's theme is tech in sports.
Sports ball. Do you play any sports balls?
>> My athletic days are pretty much over.
I consider myself a retired athlete.
>> But you played a bunch, right?
>> I was a three sport athlete in high school;
field hockey player, track runner, and tennis player.
>> Wow.
>> Yeah. You played sports in high school too?
>> Okay, story time.
I am very tall.
You can't tell while I'm sitting, I'm about six feet tall.
>> So, basketball star?
>> Right, obviously. I played basketball for three years in
middle school and I didn't score once.
>> In three years?
>> In three years. I played every game.
I was in the starting lineup and this is
back in middle school when top scorer was 20.
I would just stand there and keep my hands up
and I just never scored.
>> So, you were
the intimidation factor because you weren't put in the numbers.
>> No because I would apologize to them.
I would run into a girl and I'm like
sorry and my coach would be like
"Sonia you don't have to
apologize to them when you're trying to get the ball."
>> I had a similarly abysmal basketball experience.
My brother actually told me that I was embarrassing our family.
>> There are a lot of O'Brien's too, that's pretty bad.
>> I know, a lot of people to shame.
You know when you're, you're dribbling down the court and
you're supposed to do a lay up,
I would dribble down the court,
stop and then try to shoot it in.
>> We were very good at spectating. It's good chat.
>> Good chat.
>> So, moving on to story time officially,
mine is around Microsoft's involvement in sports around the area,
the Seattle Storm is
our women's WNBA basketball team here in Seattle.
They are amazing, they keep winning championships.
So, there was this workshop that Microsoft
did with them for the Boys and Girls Clubs,
that there's not just the sports that you can play,
but there's also the math behind and it
was a clinic hands-on training.
Basically, how STEM can relate to basketball skills.
So, you could test your vertical jumps like,
how tall would you have to be to
dunk on the moon and time that in together.
>> Is it easier, is it harder?
>> Definitely harder. Imagine dribbling and it
just shoots off into outer space you're,
"Okay, I guess that's the end of the game guys."
>> L to L. That's what I remember.
L to L, L to L.
>> You'd need gravity playing into it,
you know how it bounces.
So, this is what they're teaching the girls.
Also like impactful there jump was,
vertical and a lot of other mathematical terms.
>> What a cool way to do some storytelling around math.
I don't know, I'm trying to think back to link
the word problems that I had and it was always like,
Betty has four oranges,
she wants three lemons.
>> I don't think that works. That was a magic
>> They seemed like so obscure and
what an awesome way to tie
your learning into something that they care about.
>> Bring it together. Tangible.
>> Yeah.
>> Bringing into a tangible area
in an arena they're comfortable with.
A lot of these boys and girls have been watching basketball,
but they didn't really feel comfortable playing it.
So, combining almost two uncomfortable scenarios into one and
making it such an easy entry point and low barrier to entry,
I think it's a really interesting way of
just giving back to the community also.
I thought what was really good about
this clinic in particular is a lot of
women providing the coaching to other women, into the girls.
They can actually see in picture their own idol just like
a really good safe zone for
these girls to actually feel comfortable.
>> There are significant benefits
to more women getting involved with coaching.
Including focusing less on
winning or the exclusively competitive nature of
sports and more about the lessons that we can all
learn from being on sports teams
and playing competitively in games.
>> True.
>> More of those life lessons less of the win-loss focus.
>> We must win.
>> Yes, exactly.
>> It isn't USA, Iceland D2 Mighty Ducks. Yeah.
>> Great movie.
>> Although they did learn a lot.
>> They did learn a lot.
>> There is a lot of good lessons from that one.
>> I'm going to be talking about Anil Kumble,
who is a cricket player.
>> Sounds Indian.
>> He is Indian.
>> Yes.
>> Anil also has a deep interest in technology.
Cricket does not have a ton of technology integration as of today.
In 1999, they of course introduced the speed gun,
like when you're driving down the street and
a police officer is monitoring how fast everyone's going.
Since then, they have started
introducing these multi angle cameras,
like we have here today.
Being a spectator in a cricket game became much cooler and more
interactive when you could see
not only the field or the pitch from your seat,
but also from all of those different angles.
Both of these technology advancements
were really focused on the bowler.
Even though Anil was a bowler,
he said that cricket is a batman's game.
>> Batman. He said it, I guess.
>> I know. He wanted to focus on the batman.
Anil is working at Spektacom now as a technologist,
and he is partnering with Microsoft to create this Power Bat.
Power Bat has an IoT sensor.
>> What?
>> Like the size of a credit card,
it would fit in your wallet and they sticker it to the bat.
So, in real time,
that IoT sensor is collecting data about the batting experience.
It's monitoring quality, which I came to
understand is where on the bat the ball is hitting,
bat speed, twists, body twist, and then power.
So, they're using that Intelligent Edge of the bat,
transferring the data to the Intelligent Cloud Azure.
Then you have access to all of this data
about your performance on the pitch,
but also over time.
So, you can see where you're improving and then
focus more of your workouts or your preparation for play.
They're already using this Power Bat in
local cricket organizations and they're thinking
about ways to not only use the data
to make the player experience better,
but also to figure out how can you make
the fan experience better as well.
>> I'm picturing the sensor that they put on the bat.
Imagine if we put that on the ball that we had on the moon
and then it could tell us how to properly
dribble and give us all the feedback like,
hey, if you dribbled it a little lighter and it
return back to you not go flying to Mars.
>> That's the only way that you
could get good at basketball on the moon.
>> Only way.
>> Yeah.
>> The only way. It is really really interesting to
see all these smart applications in usage of IoT.
>> Unfortunately, this box is not yet smart.
>> It's not yet smart. But that is
a great transition to our next segment called Outside of the Box.
I'm going to pick a question for you.
>> Okay.
>> You have 30 seconds to answer it.
>> Fantastic.
>> Okay. Colleen, if you could only eat at
one restaurant forever, what restaurant would it be?
>> I would eat at Chipotle.
>> Wow, really?
I was not expecting that.
>> Yeah, I don't know if that's my answer.
>> Do you even normally go there?
>> I never go there, but I was thinking,
what's the place where you can eat pretty
healthfully and have some variety.
I never eat there. I don't know why I said that.
>> I thought you'd pick a sushi Japanese place.
>> I'm embarrassed by my choice.
>> It's okay.
>> You're right. I think I probably
would choose a ramen restaurant.
>> But you don't want just ramen
because your sodium levels would be like.
>> That's exactly what I was
thinking about when you asked me this question.
I was like I can't say that but I have to say something.
>> Yes.
>> What part of elementary school do you wish you can
incorporate into your adult life?
>> Oh my God. Easy, kindergarten nap time.
>> You had nap time in kindergarten?
>> Yeah.
>> We do that.
>> It was rest time and you just had to be quiet.
I think it's for the teacher's sanity of
just please be quiet for 30 minutes.
I'd say preschool is definitely proper nap time.
But if I could bring that back in,
it'll either be nap time and/or
a recess, but probably nap time only.
>> Or do you want a full-on bed at work?
>> No pods. I wouldn't want to be comatose at work.
I would want it just a little snoozer
or be refreshed and then keep working.
>> All right. Good answer, nap time.
>> I had that ready, it was scary.
>> All right. We're officially done with this segment.
>> We're not sticking to any particular order at all.
Please submit questions for the box.
We will be answering them in all of our episodes every week,
so keep them coming and send them to the email address below.
>> Please remember to subscribe to
our channel and we will see you next week.
[MUSIC]
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