Problem Statement
I love playing badminton. However, I’m not very good at it, and I really want to improve. I’ve been playing regularly with a friend, watching tons of YouTube tutorials on technique and strategy. But putting those lessons into practice during an actual game is difficult without real-time guidance or feedback.
That’s when I thought about building Kuri.
Even when I played casually, I often wished there was a free and accessible tool that could track scores, act as a line judge for close calls, and provide post-game analysis and insights.
I’m aware that similar solutions might already exist, but I see this as a learning opportunity to explore multiple areas at once:
- Building a mobile application
- Working with computer vision
- Learning to document my progress and write about what I build
- Having fun while learning something new
Since this is a fairly ambitious project, I’ve broken it down into smaller, self-contained steps. Each component should be valuable on its own, but together they’ll form a complete, end-to-end system.
The Plan
1. Identification
- Detect the shuttlecock in video frames
- Track player positions and movement
- Detect and mark court boundaries
2. Assessment
- Detect when and where the shuttle hits the ground
- Determine if the shuttle landed in or out of bounds
- Track shuttle trajectory (similar to Hawk-Eye)
3. Video analysis
- Shot Isolation: Identify the exact frames when a player makes contact with the shuttle
- Point Isolation: Segment full rallies — from serve to point completion
4. Feedback
- Provide coaching assistance using pose estimation models (e.g., PoseNet, MoveNet, or OpenPose)
- Offer tactical insights such as identifying open spaces or poor court positioning
- Highlight performance trends, e.g., if backhand clears consistently fall short of the baseline
- Generate detailed analysis reports that a coach could use for personalized training plans
Final Thoughts
I’m fully aware that this app will likely never be profitable, especially at the club or amateur level. However, that’s not the goal, I’m building Kuri purely out of curiosity and passion for learning.
If this project or post helps or inspires you in any way, I’d really appreciate your support. 😊