London Olympics: Athletes running with technology

LONDON: The future of sports could be a new game altogether thanks to technology. Athletes would be able to train smarter, i.e. gather increased performance data to spot patterns and identify signs of improvement, weaknesses or even potential injury. They would be able to change tactics in-flight and take the winning position - as smart clothing becomes ubiquitous athletes will be able to make use of real-time information available to them and their coach.

They will also be get spotted by talent scouts or secure more lucrative sponsorship deals —analysis of what their fan base is saying in social media will help to identify up and coming stars.

Beyond 2020, we see the potential for event organisers to stage events where athletes compete in the same race yet are located in different countries. Each athlete could run in his or her own city, and yet they could appear together as holograms in the same race, as a study by Atos predicts.

Atos, an international IT services company and Worldwide Information Technology (IT) Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, unveiled a vision for the future of the sport industry in 2020 with the launch of ascent at London 2012: a vision for sport and technology.

What the press release terms as a unique thought leadership study is claimed as the latest edition of the ascent thought leadership programme from Atos that sets out how technology will radically change the sporting experience of athletes, viewers at home, fans in the stadium and events organisers by 2020. Contributors include the Atos Scientific Community; IOC President, Jacques Rogge; London 2012 Chairman, Sebastian Coe; CEO, IPC Xavier Gonzalez; President and CEO of Sochi 2014, Dmitry Chernyshenko; Head of Platform Partnerships at facebook, Christian Hernandez, as well as guest editor, award-winning author, Simon Kuper .

Over the next decade, sport is going to transform, with the experience of the athlete, spectator and television viewer changing more than perhaps since the first Olympic stadium went up in Greece nearly 3,000 years ago.  For 2020 Atos predicts that viewers at home will watch the action through the eyes of the athlete — the new spectator will be his or her own director and will choose which slice of the action they want to watch; get the full story on the screen in front of them — watching the 100 m final; you will see a speedometer showing how fast the athletes are running; and will include take on sporting heroes while watching them compete — fans will have the power to step virtually onto the pitch, as live footage and gaming merge into one.

Besides that fans in the stadium will be more involved in the action —whoever is running the event will be able to feed  the live audience information that they may not want to put over a public network. They will get a front row view from every seat — with a second screen that can switch view to pitch side wherever you are in the stadium; and will enjoy queueless experience by using smart phone to order and pay for popcorn or event merchandise. They will be able to share their experience in real-time with all their friends and family - the cloud will allow the almost instant uploading and downloading of data.

Commenting on the launch of ascent at London 2012: a vision for sport and technology,  Gilles Grapinet, Senior Executive Vice President, Global Functions, Atos, said:  “The technology and sport landscape has been changing at an unprecedented speed.  Having been involved in every Olympic Games since 2002, our team of business technologists has witnessed this change first-hand.  As Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have the responsibility to think one step ahead and help our clients do the same.”

“Innovation is part of the Atos DNA and when it comes to the Games, we are very clear about what innovation truly means. This latest edition of ascent supports our vision of how technology’s new possibilities can power progress for the Games, providing a pan-industry view to help our clients create the Firm of the Future through our commitment to innovation.”

Simon Kuper said: “It was a great pleasure to edit this special edition and meet the Atos Scientific Community, who are visionaries in their field.  I look forward to watching London 2012 with new eyes and seeing how some of the technology developments we foresee in the magazine may become reality by 2020.”