WAUWATOSA — Could the future of basketball be AI-driven smart basketball hoops? Maybe. One Milwaukee company hopes so, at least.
With this new technology, anyone can track shot angle, shot quality, shot charts, whether or not you're swishing, compete on a global leaderboard, and even compare your stats to pros like Damian Lillard. The company is called huupe.
“We got some pros and some NBA players that we've been talking to for a while now to help us prioritize what stats the pros really care about," Paul Anton, the CEO and co-founder of huupe, said.
The Milwaukee-based sports technology company, huupe, is about to release a new product called huupe Arena. It's a weatherproof camera attachment with stadium-grade LED lights that can make any basketball hoop a smart basketball hoop. All your shot data goes to a corresponding app that you can access on your phone. There's a free and premium version. The smart hoop's artificial intelligence component can analyze each shot and tell you how to improve your form.
The huupe Arena can be installed on any basketball hoop as long as there is a power outlet nearby. While it's meant for anyone, the intended customers are coaches and players.
“We built every product for schools and gyms. That's our main target, is building the shot tracking to be really accurate and be something coaches and players can really gain insights from," Anton said.
Think of it being set up in high school or college gyms, used by competitive travel teams, or anyone else who wants to improve their skills.
I first did a story on huupe back in 2023. Back then, they were selling full-size basketball hoops with televisions inside the backboard.
“But not as scalable as we thought when we were first starting. Super expensive to make product affordable for the market," Anton said.
Then they built the huupe Mini. A wall or door-mounted version of the smart basketball hoop. It's a similar concept, but no cameras.
“It was five times as hard to build it with Radar and LiDAR. A camera would have been a lot easier, but we really prioritized privacy and wanted to maintain that trust with parents and kids,” Anton said.
They sold more than 40,000 of those. Today, they still offer entire basketball hoop kits starting at $3,000, but the new focus is on the camera attachment, which they've already sold a few thousand of in a pre-sale market test. The final retail price is still being worked out.
“So it's pretty crazy that, you know, just privately through email of old customers, we've already sold a bunch of these units," Anton said.
Anton came up with the idea for a smart basketball hoop as a way to continue playing basketball with his friends even when they lived in different states.
"I'd record a shot on my phone, send it to my brother and best friends, back and forth. And we'd play recording shots on our cellphones. And we figured there had to be a better way to play basketball when were in different cities."
A smart basketball hoop was the answer.
The new huupe Arena is expected to be available online in the first week of September. The company hopes to finalize a deal with a major retailer to get the product in stores ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Find out more by going to huupe.com.
Watch the story to see more of the huupe Arena...
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