Computer Vision 360 Video Analysis in Sports: 3D Athlete Pose and Rig Motion Estimation in Olympic Sailing

This paper presents a novel system for estimating 3D athlete pose, boom angle, and rudder angle in Olympic dinghy sailing using onboard 360∘ video footage. The proposed approach integrates adaptive panorama slicing, keypoint-based rig detection, and geometric ray-casting into an end-to-end pipeline for quantitative performance analysis under real-world on-water conditions. Traditionally, restrictive International Laser Class Association (ILCA) rules have prohibited advanced sensor systems during competition. However, recent rule changes permit a single onboard camera, enabling unobtrusive and rule-compliant measurement solutions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a competition-legal 360∘ camera combined with computer vision can provide meaningful performance-related measurements in Olympic sailing. The experimental results indicate that computer-vision-based analysis can complement traditional performance assessment and provide access to data previously limited to physical sensors or manual estimation. The system can support teams and coaches in identifying technique-related performance opportunities.