Have you ever thought about what sports might look like in the future?
It’s an interesting thing to ponder how humans and robotics have the potential to merge and change sports forever. Imagine a 200 mile per hour tennis serve, light-cycle racing, or (for you Harry Potter fans) real quidditch.
Now imagine the infrastructure that would be needed to support these futuristic sports. What would stadiums look like? Could the field change locations? What would playing surfaces even look like?
A company called ASB can answer that last question. ASB has created GlassFloor, the future of sports surfaces now. It’s all rather Tron-like.
The Future: Here and Now
First and foremost, ASB GlassFloor has created a unique product for athletes and sports enthusiasts alike. Now the CEO Martin Goens and Director of Marketing Sean Worland are confident with GlassFloor’s potential and feel the time is right to bring it to the U.S. market by selling it out of Quorumtech Inc. in Indianapolis.
But going back a little, ASB has been ahead of the market curve with their unique courts for over 30 years now.
The company started off specializing in squash courts and other squash-related products. By remaining innovative, ASB has continuously forged a path into the future.
Certainly, the brand’s most futuristic design, the GlassFloor, combines the looks of Tron with the tradition of squash. Even better, the court goes beyond squash: badminton, basketball, handball, fencing, netball, soccer, rugby, tennis, and volleyball. And the possibilities may not stop there.
GlassFloor is quite versatile because of its construction. The surface of the floor is comprised of two specially treated glass plates that are held together by a 2MM PVB Safety Layer.
For those of you that wonder what PVB might stand for, we’ve got you covered. PVB is polyvinyl butyral. Ok, great. But what is it and what does it do? “Polyvinyl butyral is a resin usually used for applications that require strong binding, optical clarity, adhesion to many surfaces, toughness and flexibility.” That sounds like something that you would want in your glass sports flooring, doesn’t it?
LED lighting is then used to change the layout of the lines that are displayed on the court. The great thing is the fact that the court lines can be switched at the touch of a button. A feature like this allows for a quick court turnover. Additionally, this means that the only lines that are visible on the court are the ones necessary for the desired sport. It’s truly a clean, futuristic look.
The GlassFloor system can be produced in nearly any color, allowing facilities to apply feng shui. And feng shui is great and all, but what about the surface itself? Isn’t glass slippery?
Actually, no. The glass surface was designed with tempered security glass that features “burnt-in” ceramic dots. The amount of dots and their size determine the friction values of the flooring itself. ASB has made sure that these values are up to traditional sport flooring standards: “The surface we created provides the right anti-slip protection but will not hurt when players dive for a ball.”
As for the reflection of the glass, it’s actually very comparable to that of marble. GlassFloor has been created to ensure a small amount of reflection, but not to the point where it becomes a distraction.
Between the glass and the design of the double-beam aluminum subframe, ASB says that the floor is more elastic than most wooden floors. This design also allows for the elasticity and deflection to remain equal across the entire surface.
So, now that you know what the ASB GlassFloor is made out of, what about its capabilities?
ASB GlassFloor Capabilities
ASB has not only provided athletes with a great playing surface, but they built the floor to allow facilities to get the most out of GlassFloor. And as complicated as the flooring system sounds, a 400 meter GlassFloor took ASB’s team just 10 days to install.
Because of the floor’s “big LED nets”, the GlassFloor is able to produce court lines by sport. At the press of a button, the sport surface can easily be converted from lines for one sport to another. And with the lengthy list of applicable sports, a facility can offer customers a ton of playing options within a limited area.
A feature like this gives the floor a very clean look because, for instance, basketball players will not be distracted by volleyball lines. GlassFloor also allows for a quick turnaround. So, if a facility schedules soccer for two hours, it can easily schedule tennis immediately after.
But perhaps more importantly, major facilities can utilize the floor advertising area. Not only can ads be placed beneath the floor, but the light nets make it easy to display any additional sponsor information that may be necessary.
Or maybe a facility wants to display a particular tournament’s upcoming schedule, the current score, or statistics; it’s all possible with GlassFloor. In fact, the entire floor can be turned into a screen.
So, it’s easy to see how the floor can be utilized in a variety of ways. And because the floor has been built with innovation in mind, the possibilities are abundant.
Countless Possibilities
ASB has what they call an “ideas bank”. They are constantly pushing the limits and coming up with more creative ways to utilize their GlassFloor system. For example, setting up the playing surface to have track lines is one thing. But ASB thought about the athlete and decided that a “light bar” that moves at a set pace would be a great idea to help aid in training.
Another possibility lies in the fact that floor is built to utilize the lighting system. So, lights could possibly go off if a player is lined up offsides.
BT Sport 1 and 2–two new TV British sports channels–have decided to utilize the floor as a huge screen to analyze and dissect specific plays from various games. They can also change the set up the floor to allow for live penalty kicks and other state-of-the-art TV friendly features.
Other options for GlassFloor may even include creating an entirely new game in which the floor tracks players. The playing surface could easily become part of the game itself by interacting with the action.
Between the floor’s marketing capabilities and its customization, consumers are sure to be pleased. Even though GlassFloor is meant for sports, it can be completely cleared of lines to allow for special events to take place.
ASB has created a true multipurpose product that stands alone in the sports flooring market. And while light bikes and Tron competitions are a long way off, ASB GlassFloor is straight from the future.