Tech for Sport: A Look at the Olympic Games Paris 2024
The Olympic Games have always been a showcase of human physical prowess and competitive spirit. As the world turns its gaze to Paris for the ongoing Olympic Games Paris 2024, the intersection of technology and sports has never been more evident.
From advanced training techniques to real-time analytics and enhanced broadcasting, technology is revolutionizing the way athletes compete and how fans experience the games. Among these advancements, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) are poised to revolutionize various aspects of the Games.
Smart Stadiums
Smart stadiums are designed to enhance the overall experience for athletes, spectators, and organizers. IoT devices installed help monitor various aspects of the stadium environment, including crowd density, temperature control, and energy usage. These devices will help maintain a comfortable and safe environment throughout the Games for both athletes and fans.
AI-powered systems play a pivotal role in enhancing both safety and efficiency at the smart stadiums. Intelligent crowd management will monitor crowd movements to optimize the flow of people, reduce congestion, and enhance safety with real-time monitoring and predictive analytics. The system can swiftly identify and respond to potential threats, ensuring a safe environment for all attendees.
Athlete Performance
Technologies are also being utilized to optimize athletes’ training and ensure their safety. Machine learning algorithm can study patterns and trends from massive datasets and by analyzing performance data, it helps in crafting personalized training plans, identifying areas for improvement, and preventing injuries.
Computer vision is another significant AI application in sports. It helps to track athletes’ motions and detect trends in their techniques, providing recommendations on how to improve and what exercises might help. For example, AI will assist judges in sports like diving by using computerized cameras to calculate distances and ensure athletes maintain safe practices, thereby reducing the burden on human referees and enhancing fairness.
Case Studies
The Olympic Games provide a global platform for showcasing cutting-edge technological innovations. Seeed Studio, an elite partner for edge AI in the NVIDIA Partner Network, has developed innovative solutions utilizing the NVIDIA Jetson series with its computer vision capabilities together with its partners.
● Edge AI-Enabled Ball Retriever Robot
One of Seeed’s partners Vive Robotics has introduced an AI-enabled tennis ball retriever robot powered by the NVIDIA Jetson Nano. This innovative solution significantly enhances the tennis experience by automating the ball retrieval process, saving players up to 20% of their on-court playing time and energy. The robot utilizes advanced technologies such as computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and real-time processing to detect and retrieve tennis balls efficiently. Its deployment not only improves gameplay by allowing continuous rallies but also offers a futuristic experience for tennis enthusiasts.
● Computer Vision with Fitness
Utilizing the YOLOv8-s pose model and NVIDIA TensorRT, the solution is powered by NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, which processes high-resolution 640×640 input images from IP cameras, achieving remarkable inferencing performance at 106 FPS. The YOLOv8-s pose model, trained on the COCO-pose dataset, provides unparalleled accuracy in human motion tracking. By leveraging body motion data points, it accurately identifies and analyzes users’ precise movements, offering invaluable insights into exercise form and posture. Moreover, it goes beyond mere observation, automatically counting exercise repetitions and recognizing the specific training type being performed.
● People Flow Analysis in Public Space
The efficient management of crowded environments and public spaces, such as stadiums, is crucial. The FairMOT model, based on Anchor Free’s CenterNet detector, fuses deep and shallow features to improve real-time multi-target tracking accuracy. The solution can be deployed on NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX, with tailored training methods for different scenarios. The logistic architecture helps in removing background noise while retaining high-score detections, improving the consistency of tracking.
Conclusion
As the Olympic Games in Paris showcases, the fusion of technology and sports is creating a new era of athletic excellence. Technology is helping to create a seamless and enriched experience for attendees and athletes around the world, ensuring that the spirit of the Games is enjoyed by everyone, regardless of language or location.
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The article helped me gain an objective view of the Olympic Games that I had never seen before.