5 Technologies Helping Olympic Athletes Get Faster and Better
We look at five different ways that the Olympics are benefiting from emerging technologies like 3D printing and wearable devices.
Click through this gallery to see five different ways that the Olympics are benefiting from emerging technologies like 3D printing and wearable devices.
The difference between silver and gold can be milliseconds, and the technology that helps track this is made by the same maker the Olympics has been working with since 1932. Omega has sent 480 tons of equipment to Rio, including its Scan’O’Vision Myria camera, which “can snap up to 10,000 high-definition images per second at the finish line in an effort to eliminate doubt as to a race's winner.”
Its technology isn’t limited to racing, either. It uses special lasers to measure archery events, and a small radar with real-time swing information for golfers.
Adidas is using 3D-printing to create its Adidas Futurecraft shoes. The footwear is designed based on the “contours and unique arches of a particular athelte’s foot.” The sneakers aren’t available to buy, but Adidas is giving its sponsored athletes a pair.
U.S. Swimming athletes are using BMW technology adapted from the LED lighting system in its BMW’s autonomous vehicles to improve their time. The LEDs are “strapped to the swimmer's wrists, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles and toes using 3D-printed mounts” while “an underwater camera uses motion-tracking technology to break down the swimmer's movements.”
The Japan Gymnastics Association is working with Fujitsu to use 3D laser sensors and 3D data processing technology to discern the gymnasts' joint position and technique, according to an announcement. The hope with this system is it would take out some of the guesswork of gymnastic judging – which has been criticiszed as being overly confusing.
According to GE Reports, a cloud-based version of GE Healthcare’s Centricity Practice Solutions (CPS) is the official electronic medical records keeper. The technology is available at all medical posts throughout the games and at the central clinic in the Olympic Village.
The data is also used after the fact by trainers to develop strategies to improve sport performance.
According to GE Reports, a cloud-based version of GE Healthcare’s Centricity Practice Solutions (CPS) is the official electronic medical records keeper. The technology is available at all medical posts throughout the games and at the central clinic in the Olympic Village.
The data is also used after the fact by trainers to develop strategies to improve sport performance.
Over time, Olympians have used science to become faster and stronger, using new discoveries around diet to better fuel their bodies, and research around new training methods to crush 2100-year-old Olympic records.
Another area where the Olympics have changed quite a bit since its days in Ancient Greece is technology. In this gallery, we look at five different ways that the Olympics are benefiting from emerging technologies like 3D printing and wearable devices.
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