Intel helping to reimagine the future of the Olympic Games

Olympic fever is taking hold over most people with many of us keeping track of the results as they happen. Helping get us these results as they happen is Intel, a sponsor of this year’s Olympic Games and they are looking to move the Olympics into the future with new technologies.

Two of the new technologies are their 3D Athlete Tracking (3DAT) and Intel True View.

3DAT brings AI and computer vision motion tracking capabilities into the field by taking video from multiple cameras to extract a 3D form and motion from the video. The feature is not a real time feature and will be available in the upcoming week during replays of the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay and hurdle events.

Intel True View provides a “first ever immersive sports viewing experience.” This is achieved using small, high-resolution cameras throughout the venue to capture the action of the entire court. The data is then rendered to create 360-degree replays and detailed depictions of athlete movements. This technology with be available while watching the basketball with Intel recording 52 games to provide the 360-degree experience for all games. You may have seen it already with replays in the basketball showing player motion and the “camera” rotating around them showing the action from all angles.

Other technologies undertaken by Intel at the Tokyo Games is their 5G Project providing 5G for spectators and officials at three target venues to allow live streaming of ultra-high-definition video. The low latency will also help their AR spectator experiences at the Games.

Visually, the most spectacular thing Intel may well have already done at the Olympics was the co-ordination of the 1,800 drones during the opening ceremony to create the complex set of geometric shapes, including the globe.

“Intel plays a key role in accelerating the adoption of new technologies by working across the Olympic movement to integrate technology into many facets of the Games – from sporting event operations and sports performance to improvements in host city infrastructure and providing data-rich fan experiences. Many of the innovations unleashed for the Games will ultimately scale beyond the Games to support our larger purpose.”

It will be interesting to see how many of these technologies make it into everyday life/sport but it is great to see Intel pushing the envelope at the Olympics. If you have a chance checkout the Boomers playing tomorrow and watch Intel TrueView in use.