Discover the value of data through sport

Batting Lab, the SAS program that supports data literacy and prepares young people for a data driven future

SAS, a leader in analytics, created the Batting Laban interactive experience that uses artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision and the Internet of Things (IoT) to help children improve their baseball and softball swings … and their confidence in the use of data and analysis, a fundamental element of data literacy.

The Batting Lab applies data science to help children make better use of statistics. And it makes data and analytics more accessible, relevant and fun. Data literacy will help young people in an increasingly data-driven world. In fact, the same technologies that power the Batting Lab help companies and organizations around the world make better decisions.

“Statistical competence is now an indispensable requirement in many sectors. I know I couldn’t have made a career without understanding data and analytics, ”said Sig Mejdal, Assistant General Manager for the Baltimore Orioles, an expert in sabermetrics (analyzing baseball through statistics) and former NASA engineer.

“Through the Batting Lab project, SAS wants to inspire a new generation of data savvy people who will work to solve many of our challenges with data and data analytics. The project introduces skills that children will need when they become professionals in the engineering, medical and many other fields “.

The Batting Lab is a technological and interactive room equipped with sensors and cameras that capture the position of the batter, the swing and the details of the flight of the ball. Thanks to artificial intelligence, computer vision and IoT, attitude and swing data are analyzed in real time and feedback and suggestions for improvement are shared via the displays on the floor and walls. Batting Lab sensors and cameras collect more than 50,000 data points for each swing. In a single 50-key session, that’s over 2.5 million data points analyzed.

The batters can thus see how to optimize weight distribution, hand position, movement and other factors. The Batting Lab analyzed thousands of swings of elite players, including those from North Carolina State University baseball and softball teams, to build an optimal swing model. “I thought it was going to be a normal room with lots of cameras,” said Genkai Sharmin, 12, one of the first children to experience the Batting Lab. “I was very surprised. It looked like some kind of spaceship. “I can understand what I did wrong. A coach would tell me and I wouldn’t understand. But the Batting Lab shows me where I need to improve ”.

While not everyone can enter the Batting Lab, everyone can benefit from the project. The Batting Lab offers a Data Playbook, an online version of the program, which children and their parents can use to track progress and receive guidance. As children improve their jokes they also gain confidence in using data and analytics to achieve their goals. The Data Playbook will be available from 6 June.

The artificial intelligence, computer vision and other advanced technologies present in the Batting Lab are the same used by SAS customers around the world. “The Batting Lab makes data and data analysis fun. Early on, children use data to improve their swings and positions, ”said Lucy Kosturko, Education Programs Manager at SAS. “Our goal is for children at home to feel more comfortable applying data to solve problems, improve skills and understand their world.”

Although the Batting Lab can improve the kids’ strokes, the most important result is to prepare them for the future by giving them the confidence to work with the data.

SAS supports data literacy

SAS has long advocated data literacy to help people navigate an increasingly information-rich world. Data Literacy is the ability to use, interpret and understand data and is an essential skill today. Through programs like The Batting Lab, as well as free courses and tools for teachers, SAS is making data literacy accessible to all.