Hooper brought to Japan’s national stage

Hooper conducted a proof-of-concept trial in Japan at the 57th McDonald’s National Mini Basketball Tournament, held March 28–31, 2026, at Keio Arena TOKYO.

It was carried out in cooperation with SoftBank Corp., a Top Partner of the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), which supports the growth of basketball in Japan through technology-driven initiatives.

What we set out to test

Could Hooper be used in a real, large-scale tournament with multiple courts, games, and a fast turnaround? Equipped with an AI model specialized for sports, Hooper analyzed game footage captured on smartphones and processed up to 36 games per day, automatically generating highlight videos and stats for each game and delivering them to participating teams by the following morning.

The results

The trial confirmed that Hooper’s stats-generation accuracy reached approximately 90%, approaching a practical level of performance. Over time, we expect to push it even further through continued advancement and training of our AI technology.

Why it matters

In Japan’s student and amateur basketball scene, even when games are recorded, creating highlight videos takes significant time and effort. Recording stats often depends on dedicated tools or manual work, a real operational burden for teams, coaches, and tournament organizers.

Built for every gym

Hooper completes the entire workflow: filming, analysis, and sharing, using only a smartphone, with no dedicated cameras or large-scale equipment. The trial confirmed Hooper can run even in environments without specialized stat-recording staff.

This technology is expected to be used not only in top-level tournaments, but also across a wide range of basketball settings, including youth categories, regional tournaments, school teams, and club teams. By helping coaches analyze games more efficiently, visualize player development, and share footage with parents and stakeholders, HOOPER aims to contribute to improving the basketball environment.

Made for Japan

Hooper also supports Japanese-language functionality and LINE integration, enabling smoother login, highlight-video sharing, and play-clip sharing for users across Japan.

This is the beginning

Together with SoftBank Corp., we’re just getting started, bringing pro-level basketball technology to every hooper in Japan.