The Atlantic League could soon look a lot different.

Made up of seven teams primarily on the East Coast, the independent circuit will become the first American professional league to implement strike zone software and the stealing of first base in the second half of this season.

Umpires in the Atlantic League will wear an Apple AirPod in one ear, connected to an iPhone, which in turn is connected to the software program in the press box. The software only determines balls and strikes, transmitting the call to the umpire, who has the final say.

“It’s amazing how good these robots look,” league president Rick White jokingly told The Washington Post. “They look just like the actual umpires. I think once people actually see this happening, they’re going to realize it’s not that big a deal.”

A small panel is placed in an elevated position behind home plate, and it makes its rulings based on “that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap,” per the MLB rule book.

The software was created by sports data firm Trackman and provided by the MLB, and has been tested during real games in New Britain, Connecticut and Bridgewater, New Jersey. The league will formally introduce the software at the All-Star game Wednesday.

As the Trackman zone begins to whisper into umpires’ ears, the Atlantic League will also allow batters to steal first base. Any pitch that is not caught in the air will be a live ball, and batters will be allowed to take off at any time, similar to a dropped first strike.

The rule changes arrive as part of a three-year agreement with the MLB, allowing the league to study the effects of the changes before possibly implementing them in the big leagues. In return, the MLB will enhance its scouting of the Atlantic League and install hardware that enables advanced analytical study of players.

The Atlantic League has also experimented with prohibiting mound visits and defensive shifts, a three-batter minimum for new pitchers and larger bases. The MLB labor agreement expires in 2021, so if commissioner Rob Manfred wants to implement some of these new rules in the MLB, that would be the time.