By combining a tracking system with a response time of one millisecond and a high-speed camera that can take HD footage at 500 FPS, the University of Japan has developed a way to precisely track fast-moving objects on video in real-time. You've definitely never watched ping pong like this before.

The video below shows what's called a high-speed gaze controller in operation. The system consists of an array of two mirrors (one pan, and one tilt) that can move sixty degrees in approximately 3.5 milliseconds. These mirrors can track fast-moving objects in real time, bouncing images back to a stationary high-speed camera to enable videos like this:

This is full 1080p HD, mind you, at 500 frames per second, making it suitable for broadcast TV, which is exactly what the researchers have in mind. They're hoping to interest sports broadcasters in the potential for highly accurate dynamic tracking of individual players as well as very fast moving things like soccer balls, baseballs and golf balls. Just imagine what it would be like to watch a pitch at 500 FPS all the way from a pitcher's hand to the catcher's glove, or tracked with millisecond precision as a batter hits into a double play.

These games are all about the ball, after all, so it's about time that we got a chance to experience our favorite sports from the perspective of the ball, isn't it?

Via Ishikawa Oku Laboratory