It can be weird to think about sports and technology mixing into one. Sports tend to be a test of human strength, and computers don’t play a huge part in them.

However, you shouldn’t count them out just yet. After all, football and tennis players may not benefit from technology, but the people watching in the stadium and at home can. Enhancing stadiums and playing fields are where technology really shines, and where smart engineers can make revolutionary changes in how we enjoy sports.

Some tech enhancements are easy to spot. After all, slow-motion shots don’t take themselves; you’ve got gadgets and gizmos recording all that action with a really high framerate, so you can slow it down without it looking weird.

However, stadiums are getting smarter now. Both the people who are there in the moment and those watching at home want the absolute best experience they can get, and technology can help with that.

For instance, imagine if the stadium told you everything you need to know to get anywhere within it. For instance, your parents can really quickly find a parking spot in the stadium lot, because the stadium itself is beaming the location of a free place to their phones.

When you’re in the stadium itself, it will help guide you to where your seat is. It’ll also let you know where the restrooms are, so you don’t have to run around the stadium in a mild panic!

While you watch the game, you can use the stadium’s network to bring up the statistics of the players on the field. When someone scores an awesome goal, you can pull up the replay on your phone and watch it again.

This all sounds very cool, but there’s no way it’ll actually come true, right? In fact, these features and more are being added to what’s called a “connected arena,” which uses the power of smart devices to enhance the viewer’s experience.

For example, the NACK5 Stadium Omiya in Saitama, Japan lets you rewatch soccer goals from the point of view of the goalkeeper using an Oculus Rift headset. That way you can see every goal from as close as an angle as you can get!

Not only that, but NACK5 also has the, ahem, knack for snacks too. Why bother getting up to get food when you can use an app to order it to your seat? Now you’ll never miss a crucial moment just because you got hungry.

So if you’re a big fan of sports and tech, why not combine the two? There’s a huge need for engineers such as yourself to help design the next big way that people can interact with their favorite sports, and you could be one of the lucky few that get to make something amazing.

Learn More

IoT and Sports: A World of Possibilities

https://www.iotforall.com/iot-in-sports-a-world-of-possibilities

Smart sports stadiums are coming

https://www.objectstyle.com/machine-learning/smart-stadiums-are-coming

IoT in Sports

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/pl/Documents/Reports/pl-raport-internet-of-things-sports-eng.pdf

Connected Football System

https://www.wilson.com/en-us/explore/labs/connected-football-system

Tracky sportswear assesses performance

https://newatlas.com/tracky-motion-sensing-sportswear/36023/

How 5g is revolutionizing sports

https://business.blogthinkbig.com/smart-stadiums-how-5g-is-revolutionising-live-sports/

5 Tech Trends Transforming In-Stadium Experience

https://medium.com/fanfood-playbook/top-5-tech-trends-transforming-in-stadium-fan-experience-5195daac98fe

Sports Technology Trends 2021

https://www.coderus.com/sports-technology-trends-2021/

IoT in sports and gaming

https://www.embitel.com/blog/embedded-blog/how-iot-in-sports-and-gaming-has-world-of-endless-opportunities

IoT in sports transforming the field

https://www.healthworkscollective.com/heres-how-iot-in-sports-is-transforming-the-field/

Tottenham Hotspur’s Stadium

https://www.ns-businesshub.com/technology/tottenham-hotspur-stadium-technology/