How many technology companies are needed to host a modern Olympic Games?

The Rio Olympics has been open for two days, and sports are receiving the most intensive attention in four years. Putting aside the exciting sports competitions, from the perspective of technology, this year's Rio Olympics is still quite interesting: live broadcasts of events using cloud services, VR, and 4K technology; stadiums that widely use a large number of smart devices and athletes equipped with wearable devices; all-round and multi-channel social media broadcasts and discussions. The Olympics have long become a show of technology and sports.

It is not just the Olympics. In fact, the penetration of technology into the sports industry is an inevitable trend. Industry insiders believe that 2016 has become a true sports year. With the influx of capital, policy drive, the European Cup and the Olympics, sports are entering an era of participation by the middle class and even the whole nation.

The penetration of technology into the sports industry is bringing new ways to play. The application of event broadcasting and interactive technology means that we don’t have to rush to crowded stadiums and can even be there in person; athletes and coaches collect and analyze sports data based on jerseys and shoes, and can customize personalized sports plans, and the competitive level is greatly improved; high-tech means such as goal-line technology and Hawkeye assist sports events, and the probability of referees misjudgment is also reduced; the rise of social platforms and sports apps is shortening the distance between sports stars and fans, and a new sports business model is being born.

The quality of live broadcast and rebroadcast has been greatly improved

As a global sporting event, athletes from more than 200 countries and regions have participated in the recent Olympic Games, but only a few people can go to the scene to watch the games. Since the popularization of television in the 1970s, watching the games on television has become the choice of most people. Therefore, selling Olympic television broadcasting rights has become the main source of income for the International Olympic Committee, reaching 95% of the total income at its peak.

This year, the International Olympic Committee and NBC renewed their contract at a whopping $7.75 billion, with NBC holding the broadcasting rights for the Olympics from 2016 to 2032. In addition to these traditional live broadcasts, Microsoft 's cloud computing business Azure has also joined NBC's Olympic coverage. With the support of Azure, it has become easy to broadcast audio-visual content for the entire event. In addition to video workflows, Azure will also provide cloud encoding and hosting services for NBC's live broadcasts.

In addition, Microsoft has also partnered with Adobe to provide authentication services for users who want to access live or on-demand content on various platforms , including Android, iOS, Amazon , Windows and Mac. This move can facilitate viewers who use different devices and enable them to watch the game anytime, anywhere.

In addition to cloud service companies supporting TV live broadcasts, ultra-high-definition picture quality has also become a highlight of the Games. For this Olympics, NBC has begun broadcasting clearer 4K images for the games through multiple channels such as cable TV networks and satellite TV. 4K TV users in the United States can already experience it first.

At the same time, with the popularity of virtual reality, it has become possible to provide VR broadcast signals for sports events. The organizers of the Rio Olympics set up panoramic cameras in some venues, and users can experience immersive VR sports videos through Samsung Galaxy phones and Gear VR. Tencent , which has obtained the domestic network broadcasting rights, also announced that it will broadcast the competition in VR.

Intelligence is reshaping sports

The organization and process of the competition are complicated. From the construction of venues to schedule management and even the training of athletes, technology companies are needed to contribute. Intelligence is reshaping the entire sports process.

For example, Cisco , a long-established telecommunications equipment company , invested 60 tons of equipment in Rio to build network infrastructure. Atos, an IT integrator from Europe, has developed a competition management system that supports the planning and operation of the competition. It will handle information such as athlete qualifications and admissions, as well as manage 50,000 volunteers. At the same time, there is also an information dissemination system that will provide real-time competition results to the Olympic community, including the media.

In addition to IT support, the large-scale use of sports and sensor equipment has also become a highlight. Technologies such as Hawkeye and goal line have been widely used in the stadium, and robots and drones have also begun to enter the stadium.

The changes that smart devices have brought to sports are more evident in athletes. According to relevant data, by 2021, the sports and fitness wearable market is expected to reach US$14.9 billion from US$3.5 billion in 2014. These smart devices generate a large amount of data, and the valuable information generated after the data is analyzed is completely changing the way athletes train, coaches guide, and sports fans enjoy sports games.

Intel is at the forefront of this. Earlier, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich demonstrated smart glasses equipped with a voice-activated real-time coaching system. These smart glasses can provide real-time feedback and data analysis for runners, cyclists, and fitness enthusiasts, helping to track exercise progress and improve performance in real time. At the same time, Intel has also launched 3D printed running shoes and sports bras with a number of partners. Smart products with sensors are becoming an integral part of the stadium.

Big data and artificial intelligence are also widely used in the field of sports. IBM 's artificial intelligence program Watson is not only used in the medical and health field, but also in the field of sports. Watson can provide athletes with better training and competition strategies by analyzing athletes' sports history records and game data.

Social platforms and competitions form synergy

Similarly, sports events have also prompted technology companies that provide Internet content services to make great efforts: on the one hand, competitions can bring huge traffic and attention to Internet companies; on the other hand, Internet companies are also disseminating information about the games more widely, and the enthusiasm of ordinary audiences to interact is greatly increased.

Search giant Google has integrated all kinds of Olympic-related news and content directly into its search function. Just use the Google search engine to see the event schedule, medal table and athlete-related information. Google's YouTube will also provide selected live highlights. In addition, using Google Maps, users can easily visit Rio de Janeiro and various Olympic venues. Microsoft's search application Bing also provides similar services.

As a social networking giant, Facebook is not to be outdone. Through cooperation with broadcaster NBC, Facebook and Instagram (Facebook's photo social software) will have content related to the event every day. The corresponding discussion content on Facebook and Instagram may also appear in the live TV program.

Domestic technology companies are not to be outdone in the competition. Baidu provides a search page specifically for the Rio Olympics. From any platform, as long as you search "Rio Olympics" or related keywords, the medal table, schedule and the latest media reports will be summarized and displayed on the same page. 360 Search has launched a customized Olympic search robot Xiaoan. Just ask it questions like chatting online, and it will provide you with detailed information about the event and athletes.

The competition also sparked widespread discussion on social media platforms such as Weibo . After swimming star Sun Yang narrowly missed out on the gold medal, his post, "Regret, thank you, I will continue to work hard," received more than 2 million likes, more than 1 million comments, and 500,000 reposts in less than 12 hours. Similarly, Weibo has also opened a portal specifically for the Olympics, and its open media attributes are bringing the sport to the attention of the entire nation.

Technology has fully embraced the Olympics this time. If the quadrennial Olympics has its own special features, more and more new technologies are being used in daily sports, from stadium deployment to sports bracelets. It is undeniable that in addition to changing the stadium, technology is also changing life. The integration of technology and sports is no longer just a slogan, it is rapidly becoming a reality.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.