There is a lot of snooker on the television. Ever since the introduction of Pot Black, way back in 1969, there has been a steady increase in the broadcast hours dedicated to the baize. It was originally introduced into the small screen to extol the virtues of colour television and even today the red and the brown can look very similar, even to the experienced but colourblind players.
Now it is playing to an ever growing global audience that enjoy the skill and mastery, if not the athleticism of the players. As with all sport, you can never write the ending. It has its heroes and its villains, its characters and its robotic machines. It can be very entertaining.
The rules of the game, on the surface are very simple. Pot a red ball followed by any other colour until all of the reds are potted. After then it is yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and finally black. Each color has a different score with red the lowest and black the highest.
When a player becomes snookered, that is they cannot get a straight line between the cue ball and the next ball they should hit, the object ball, then there is a chance that they will miss and foreit a foul. The opponent is allowed to ask the referee to reset the balls to where they were and in some cases several balls may have moved. It can be quite a fuss and uses the previous television coverage and a lot of gentle maneuvering to get the balls back to where they were.
Here is my alternative. The game is recorded from a camera in the light bar above the table. When a reset is required then the previous positions can be projected directly onto the table and the balls placed on top of their images. Using two cameras may give a better stereoscopic image.
Such a device could also be used to set up the table to replay moves from classic games or teach players the tricks of the trade.
A smartphone would suffice. iSnooker perhaps?
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 