Technology in the Olympics Deserves a Gold Medal!
The Olympics were definitely one of the biggest highlights of the news in the past month, bringing together people from all over the world to watch as athletes representing their nations competed on the world’s biggest stage. The athletes’ performances were the best of the best, though the entire multi-day tournament could not have been possible without one key tool: technology! Let’s take a look at some of the most innovative tech used in this year’s Olympics.
Wearable Technology and Smart Clothing
Wearable technology and smart clothing made a huge impact at this year’s games, with tech being woven into the fabric of almost every athlete's uniforms in order to deliver real-time data to each country’s team. This data helped to support real-time analytics as well, giving athletes and their teams feedback on their performance and health. A lot of the smart clothing used in games incorporate extremely small sensors that can track movement, distance traveled, pressure, and more.
The usage of wearable technologies has been around for many years - a smartwatch, like a Fitbit or Apple Watch, counts as wearable technology in itself! Smart watches have been used to track athletes’ heart rates, speed, and more, allowing analytics to track improvement and enhancements happening over time in the progress of an athlete’s training. In this year’s Olympics, wearable technology became the athletes' clothes themselves.
Innovations like shoes, smart glasses, and suits that incorporate sensors, trackers, and even GPS systems can help gather valuable data that can inform athletes on how to improve their performance. From the speed that runners are competing at to the force that an athlete’s foot hits the ground during a competition, all of this data allows precise analytics that significantly improve athlete’s feedback and performances while training and competing. Swimmers can analyze feedback on their form, such as details like head pitch, and badminton’s smart eyewear technology can help players improve their line of sight and how they track birdies in a competition, according to Endava. Additionally, tracking biometric data and performance data helps to keep athletes healthy and uninjured, detecting possible dips in health or physical actions that could lead to injury well before they happen.
Artificial Intelligence
As seen in world trends outside of the Olympics as well, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has influenced all corners of the Olympic games. As mentioned previously, wearable technology equipped with built-in sensors and data trackers helped many athletes during training and during the Games, and many of these sensors were powered by AI to gather a multitude of precise data. Additionally, AI was used to analyze all of this data, creating tailored plans for athletes and teams on how to improve performance in areas including physical fitness and even nutrition.
AI also played a big role in the cameras and broadcast system used this year. A technology called 3D Athlete Tracking, or 3DAT, is powered by AI and was used this year to provide life data analysis of the players during a game. AI was used to track the motion of the players that was picked up by sensors and cameras, being able to develop and broadcast real-time analytics like “athlete speed, who is in the lead, and distance traveled/distance remaining,” according to Deloitte. This also assisted in capturing very precise images and recordings of races as well as the graphics displayed during the games, further engaging viewers into the games as well as ensuring that precise recordings of player movements were made to identify accurate athlete performances and victories.
Virtual Reality
The aspect of virtual reality’s use in the Olympic games and training may seem obvious, but its increasingly widespread usage is something to be marveled at! Virtual Reality (VR) was used in Olympic training to recreate 3D environments for athletes, allowing them to train for the games even when they were unable to find the right environments to do so. For example, VR training simulations allow players to practice with multiple different competition scenarios, for teams to practice different formations and analyze their effects in real-time, and to prepare against opponent strategies ahead of the games. Additionally, according to Hive, VR simulations create “immersive environments that induce anxiety similar to real competition,” which help athletes “build concentration, reduce anxiety, and develop mental resilience.” Additionally, cognitive exercises that increase reaction time, line of sight, focus, and explosiveness help players to think and react even quicker on their feet, significantly improving their performance in the high-pressure environment of the Games.
So far, technology has and will continue to revolutionize the field of sports. Though many debates are now arising on whether or not the use of technology gives an unfair advantage to more wealthy countries competing in the Olympics, it is still extremely impressive that the world has gotten to the point in technological innovation where this debate can even arise. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more articles!
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