Patent ID: 7544137

Claim:
A sports simulation system comprising: a projectile tracking apparatus comprising a display surface on which a visually apparent three-dimensional sports scene is presented, said projectile tracking apparatus capturing and processing images of a projectile tracking region disposed in front of said display surface to detect a launched sports projectile generally continuously from its launch position, throughout its travel through said projectile tracking region and to its contact position with said display surface; and at least one processing stage receiving image data from said projectile tracking apparatus and determining the three-dimensional positions, velocity and deceleration/acceleration of the detected launched sports projectile traveling through said projectile tracking region, the three-dimensional positions, velocity and deceleration/acceleration being used by said at least one processing stage to calculate a trajectory of said launched sports projectile into said visually apparent three-dimensional sports scene, wherein said at least one processing stage uses said calculated trajectory to generate updated image data representing a simulation of the flight path of said launched sports projectile beginning substantially at the display surface contact position and traveling into said visually apparent three-dimensional sports scene following said calculated trajectory so that said simulation represents a realistic continuance of the travel of said sports projectile beyond the display surface.