Technology Welcomes You to the Olympics

People have been playing Games without Technology. As the timer ticks, they’re now playing Games with Technology. Hang on, but ain’t it Technology that’s playing Games with People?

As the Rio 2016 Olympics kicks off for the first time in South America, digital technologies are also breaking new records in their quest to make it to the Olympic squad. There’s a radical change in outlook since the first Olympics in Greece in 776 BC as competing technologies are looking to outplay the others in solid terrain, aquatic masses and the oceanic Cloud!

Fred Wojciechowski, Head of Olympic Games Technology says that in most industries the delay acceptance is agreed upon, even for NASA! But at the Games, on-time delivery cannot be more sacrosanct! While golfers are holding their breath to tee off in the 2016 Games after 112 years, the Games would want to fit schedule executions to a tee!

Is the momentum enough to rev up the engine, sail through fluctuations and take aerial flight to the azure skies? Or would Technology duck beneath the cyber attacker’s bow, somersault through the gymnast’s loop and take a dive into outlandish golf turfs?

If Technology is to break down geographic barriers and face the rigours of yet another Olympic test, as it has done in the past, it would undergo a process of Digital Discovery in assessing:

• How can Digital Transformation turn the Games into a more connected global experience?
• How would every stakeholder be empowered to achieve a state of Digital Alchemy-synthesizing the best of technologies for digital excellence?

Let’s examine the history of how technology has championed the Olympic experience.

Changing Technology Squad

George Smith and his grand-daughter Georgina have been ardent fans of the Olympic Games. When he was interviewed at the age of 82 at the London Olympics in 2012, he remembered the race to the finishing line in 1948 that had stop watches and a tape whereas that year a laser was used and the difference of a vest’s breadth could actually determine a winner! As a teenager in 1948, George and his family huddled around a valve radio as they couldn’t afford a television.

1948 was the first time the Games were broadcast into homes with 60 hours of television broadcast compared to 5000 hours in 2012. George’s grand-daughter Georgina used her smartphone for real-time updates of the latest Olympic events as she tuned into her radio app.

London was after all the first 3D Olympics with in-depth coverage across HD and ultra-HD devices. Super Hi-Vision developed by Japanese broadcaster NHK was 16 times the definition of HD. The highlights were developed by Adobe and broadcast by NBC and BBC providing users a means of going back to the specific moment marked by real-time packages without the need to rewind. Who would have known television viewing to be so interactive!

The old proverb, necessity is the mother of all invention was embraced even before the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California with many more inventions. At a skiing event in 1960, officials couldn’t determine whether one skier had missed the gate or not. The CBS Television team was asked to review the videotape so that they could confirm the result. This led to the invention of the universal ‘instant-replay’.

Virtual imaging saw the world get its first yellow ‘world record line’ at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, which was connected to an electronic timer and projected to the viewer’s screen.

Olympic timing technology has made quantum leaps over the century. Automated timing systems made their debut at the 1964 Tokyo Games where the starting pistol was connected to a timer and photo-finish equipment. Omega has been the official timekeeper of the Olympics making its debut in the 1932, Los Angeles Olympics and maintained high standards ever since. 

When it’s down to the wire, high-tech timekeeping like electronic touchpads, infrared beams, high-speed digital cameras have rescued contestants in all sports to win by the slimmest of margins. Olympic athletes are now measured at one-millionth of a second! Michael Phelps beat Milorad Cavic by one hundredth of a second in the 2008 Olympics.

Has technology performance been able to push itself to the limits to match the strength, flexibility and grace of super-charged athletes all with their artistic gymnastics, kicks, swings and paddles?

In George’s 1948, cyclists wore basic shoes, helmets and T-shirts while in 2012, athletes took a full-body scan for aerodynamic comfort. Battery powered ‘hot pants’ were used to warm the athletes’ muscles just before a race and in George’s favourite event, rowing kits were designed to provide maximum performance. Cycling, rowing and sailing have seen the most impact from technology advances to improve performance.

Boxers recorded their movements through overhead cameras that helped them deliver many a sensational punch! Divers also dived into their iPads for feedback on their body angles in the air to swim away from any twist in the tale!

SkyTechSport developed a Ski and snowboarding simulator for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics that used virtual reality, GPS data, and 3D glasses for a mountain course simulation on a 27 foot panoramic screen. The machine engineered every movement and sensation on the downhill course that could be felt by a skier or snowboarder with timely precision! Ice skating on-body sensors translate movements to a 3D visualization that could reduce the impacts of injury in the long term by correcting techniques.

The Rio 2016 Technology Squad

At the 2016 Olympics, real-time results would be transmitted to 8 billion different devices all across the globe. Predictive and personalized services are made available to viewers for augmented user engagement.

Sky is really the limit as General Electric used drones to draw viewers for its ‘Drone Week’ with users tuning into GE Facebook broadcasts for a bird’s eye view of Olympic venues and a peek into emerging technologies highlighting developments in data analytics, power, lighting and healthcare.

Image shows the first ever NFC-enabled payment ring by VISA for the Rio, 2016 Olympics

(Image source: IEEE, Electronics 360)

For the 2016 Games, analytic wearable technology has been making waves. Michael Phelps, LeBron James, other stars and 20 athletes would be wearing the personal fitness band, WHOOP during the 2016 Games to monitor their travel, training, sleep per night, changes in behaviour, off-the-field issues.

Competing nations are trying to outdo the other in the run-up to the 2016 Games by developing cutting-edge technologies like sensors and augmented reality. Germans have taken to analytics to help them sail their way into the competition with SAP Sailing Analytics for real-time data on wind speed and ocean currents. US Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs have ‘Rio simulated rooms’ that mimic the real stage while cyclists are using special goggles to view critical ride information like speed and wind conditions. The Brazilian Canoeing team is using a General Electric app that can measure athletes’ strokes and emotional complications thus revealing their performance. Alas, even girlfriend issues were detected in one athlete!

Tokyo 2020 Games Technology Squad

Let the Games Begin

While every viewer, venue and athlete gears up for this Olympic challenge, Technology is also staying true to the Olympic motto, Faster, Higher, Stronger to keep its flame burning bright for all of it to come together in a flash!

As the moment transitions, Technology changes hands and passes the baton to its worthy digitally discovered counterparts who have made the Olympic squad and would keep the glorious flame burning brighter than ever!

Ah, the Games Technology Plays!

Be in the elite company of CXOs and download the full research paper here: https://ter.li/rfc2s3 

About the Author

Vishwas Anand is currently working as a Sr. Consultant, Thought Leadership at Aspire Systems, a mid-tier IT services provider and is a co-creator of Aspire's Digital Transformation framework. He is an MBA (2012-14) from IIM-Kozhikode and a published poet and writer, having written for the digital section of The Washington Times, Copperfield Review, Aquillrelle among other publications.