The Olympics have just wrapped up. We’ve been brushing up on fencing and archery, downloading the Chariots of Fire soundtrack and decked out the living room with our national flags - because the summer of sport in Brazil has taken over.
While people around the world cheered gold medal victories for the USA women’s gymnastics team and swimming star Michael Phelps, others watched sprinter Usain Bolt add to his ever-growing stash of accolades and British long-distance champion, Mo Farah retain his 10,000m title. But did you know that there was a secret star making an impact behind the scenes? It was the IoT, of course.
In fact, the IoT is probably the only player to be faster than Bolt. Using high-tech sensors and powerful big data systems, it’s able to provide information on sporting performance and athlete health almost instantaneously. Much like the modern Games are the successor to the ancient Olympics, the IoT is surely the successor to Zeus.
Making Taekwondo fairer
Taekwondo has been a popular event since 2000, and is always thrilling to watch, especially if you’re the Russian Federation President, Vladimir Putin, who’s a grandmaster in the sport. The Korean martial art has a scoring system which awards three points for a head kick and a single point for a body shot, so you can imagine the pressure on referees to detect a successful hit. Fortunately, the IoT is helping them, enabling the introduction of an electronic scoring system. The fighters wear sensors on their headgear and protective pads, which immediately inform officials when the head or body has been struck. As a consequence, the IoT is ensuring taekwondo is fair, eliminating the possibility of a fighter missing out on a coveted medal because of human error.
Making athletics smarter
Smart clothing has changed the way athletes prepare for enormous sporting events. An example is Hexoskin’s biometric shirt, which can monitor a sprinter’s heart and breathing rate, as well as capture movement data. It links up with a mobile app, where athletes can receive insights into their performance. In addition, there are now smart shoes, such as Kinematix’s Tune, equipping athletes with sensors in the soles of their sneakers. These analyze the sprinter’s running form, feeding data into an online portal, which is accessible via a mobile app.
Cycling
What are the qualities you’d associate with a champion cyclist? You’d probably say fitness, psychological strength, speed and power. However, there’s another skill that’s becoming increasingly crucial – the ability to analyze data. Sound strange? Here’s why it’s so important.
The rise of the IoT means that sensors can be used to provide cycling professionals and performance directors with real-time analytics and insights. For instance, the Team USA cycling team worked with IBM Watson to deliver Project 2016, a cloud-based system for enhancing team pursuit speeds. A mobile-enabled IoT solution uses power meters, heart rate monitors and muscle oxygen sensors on the bikes and athlete to help cyclists fulfill their potential. The information is presented to coaches in a simplified format, allowing them to communicate results clearly to the rest of the team.
In addition, cyclists prepared for Brazil with Solos’ smart cycling glasses. The concept sounds like it belongs in a James Bond film, but it’s become a reality thanks to the IoT. The goggles connect to sensors on the bike, providing the cyclist with real-time performance data in their field of vision.
Clearly, cycling teams that fail to embrace IoT innovation could fall behind. It’s another example of how the technology is becoming a dominant player in arenas and velodromes.
Brain stimulation wearables
Brain stimulation wearables? What on earth are we talking about? We’re not joking – technology is in development that claims to make athletes psychologically stronger by stimulating the motor cortex during training, enhancing ‘neuromuscular performance’. Halo worked on the device with selected athletes ahead of the Games and, while we don’t know much about it yet, we think it offers a glimpse into the future of sport.
Payments innovation
The IoT isn’t the only technology enhancing the athlete experience. Visa and Gemalto are equipping athletes in Rio de Janeiro with NFC enabled payment rings, allowing them to make purchases with the tap of finger against a reader. The rings are connected to smartphone apps, eliminating the need to carry around lots of payment cards and risk losing them.
As you can see, the IoT is set to be a sporting star. It’s changing the way sports and coaches work and making officiating more accurate. Enjoy the sport!
About the author: Manfred Kube is head of M2M segment marketing and director of business development for mHealth at Gemalto, the global digital security developer with annual revenues of €3.1 billion and customers in more than 180 countries. He’s crazy about the latest mobile gadgets and the Internet of Things and convinced that secure wirelessly enabled devices can help assist with chronic care management, ambient assisted living, fitness and wellness monitoring.
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
