Internet live streaming capabilities have been removed from New York City's first public “smart” basketball hoop, at least in part because New Yorkers can't be trusted not to do lewd things on camera. ah Portal.
Paul Anton, Huupe's CEO, said the Huupe, which was donated by the manufacturer to Manhattan's Tompkins Square Park last month, will be sold online due to concerns about content streaming under an agreement with the city. It was said that it had to be severed from the
The move comes less than a week after a virtual “portal” gizmo set up in Manhattan's Flatiron neighborhood connected New York City and Dublin, Ireland, through a 24/7 livestream, due to some user concerns. This came months after it had to close. lewd act.
For Huupe, stopping streaming also means users are blocked from using Backboard Screen's unique features, such as watching YouTube, taking on-demand training, and playing with other users around the world.
“The main point of Huupe is first and foremost shot tracking. Shot tracking promotes physical activity above all else, so we wanted to focus on that for kids and athletes,” said company CEO Paul Anton. I am.
In any case, not many Tompkins players are aware of the features they don't have access to. In any case, the hoop was not so popular for various reasons, local residents say.
Officials with the city's Parks Department said the East Village park was chosen to install the hoope because of the access to electricity in the green space near the courts, and Anton said the device would primarily help young players. claimed to be administering thousands of shots a day.
But on Sunday afternoon, the all-white hoope, which has a list price of tens of thousands of dollars or more, was largely untouched by players who prefer traditional basketball hoops on the park, several players told The Post. told.
“I'm an old-school guy,” said Sebastian Blank, who was spotted on court playing a traditional hoop shot over the net. “[The technology] Focus on making mistakes, not just seeing what happens. There's too much going on. ”
A Huupe user who goes by Majesty Da Rebel online told the Post that he and about five other players, some of whom are from the company, shoot Huupe several times a week.
“Hupe is revolutionary for baseball ball culture,” he said. “How many similar basketball hoops have you seen? This is the first of its kind.”
But other players, like Blank, weren't so convinced.
Levi Carter-Frem, 22, and Wyatt Watson, 14, are at the Hoope, from its location in a desolate corner of the park to the not-so-noticeable 3-point line drawn nearby. He said there are many reasons why it is underutilized. , to rumors that the “smart” hoop isn't actually the standard 10-foot height.
Watson said hoopes are typically used by younger players, especially when the regular courts are already overtaken by older park users.
Blank added that Huupe's screen isn't bright enough to be visible when used at night.
Skeptics online are raising concerns about Huupe's durability.
“How many shots of the backboard can I take before the LCD screen shatters,” a user wrote on X.
Anton told the Post that so far Huupe has had “zero hardware issues” and that he checks it himself several times a day.
“The first week was full of a little bit of power,” Anton said. “I live in New York now, so I'm a maintenance guy and a hardware guy. I check on it five or six times a day and I'm always playing with the kids.”
Despite lacking some “smart” features, Anton claims that Huupe is “much better” for aspiring pros who want to track their shots and see distance in real time.
“We're not the first company to try to get the shot, but we're the first company in the world to display that information in real time so you know where you got the shot at the end,” he said. .
“Just like in the NBA, you get a shot chart. I don't know if you can do that with any other basketball hoop.”
Hoope follows in the footsteps of several high-tech projects debuting in the Big Apple, including a media lab at the Red Hook Recreation Center that the Adams administration sought to bring to the park this year.
Park officials told the Post that Houpe will be available for public use until October.
Representatives said the storage period at Tompkins Square Park will be shorter this year because the equipment will be stored over the winter. After that, discussions about Houpe's next location have not yet taken place, so its fate remains unclear.
