9 Technological Innovations That Have Made Their Olympic Debut In Rio

The greatest athletes in the world compete in the Olympics every four years. We sit and watch in awe of their athletic and physical abilities on the way to attempting to capture an elusive gold medal.

This year’s Olympics have not sold us short on the amount of advanced technology on display during the Games. The ability to bring fans even closer to the action makes this year’s Olympics unique and personalized, something we all crave. For those of you who do not know much about the tech involved, this article should be the biggest informant since you Spark-Noted that book you were supposed to do a report on in high school.

So lets begin.

1. Google Street View Tours of the Venues

Rio-employees give us a first-person tour as they walked through each and every venue mapping out the visual details for all to see. You can now imagine yourself ground level with some of the Olympic greats as they compete.

2. Underwater Lap Counters

Going the length of the pool up to thirty times can get tough to keep track of, even at this level of experience. Knowing how many lengths are left in an event like the Men’s 1500 Freestyle is important in completing the race and knowing your finish.

In order to help out the swimmers, Rio is using underwater LED lap counters from Omega in the middle of each lane to solve this problem.

3. Virtual Reality

If you have not heard of this year’s Olympic virtual reality capabilities then you must have been hiding under a shot put ball.

Regardless, the NBC Sports app and Samsung Gear VR headset will bring virtual reality broadcasting to the Olympic games, specifically events such as basketball, gymnastics, boxing and diving.

4. High Resolution Video

Although it may only be available on Tokyo NHK, super high-vision or 8K (which has 16 times as many pixels as regular HD) will be live in broadcasting centers around Tokyo. But let’s be honest, are we even ready for cupping in this clarity?

5. Security Blimps

Maximum security. Well, at least from four blimps.

This might sound like a laughing matter, but these blimps equipped with HI-RES cameras will monitor the security for the Games. The devices will send images taken by the thirteen cameras in real time, keeping the safety of the Olympics in good hands.

6. NFC Payments

Visa and Brazilian bank Bradesco are pushing for new wearable tech, specifically, a bracelet equipped with Near Field Communications (NFC) technology for making payments at the Olympics. Close to 3000 journalists, officials and athletes will be the guinea pigs for the water proof bracelets making Apple Pay look like a thing of the past.

7. X1 High-Tech Coverage

NBC owner, Comcast Corp. will showcase its X1 set-top box which will give consumers the ability to search for live coverage and replays by country, athlete and sport.

The integrated voice search will make use of the box’s internet connection and begin a search just by saying something simple such as, “How is the USA doing?”

8. Getty 360-degree Photography

The Olympic’s official photography agency, Getty, is bringing 360-degree images to the Games. Since first experimenting in the 2012 London Olympics, Getty will supply every photographer with a 360-degree camera to capture the best photos.

9. Canoeing GPS

And finally, canoeing rows its way onto the big screen.

Through the years, canoeing has not drawn the largest crowds due to the slow pace and long distances, but the Olympic Committee’s decision to put GPS locators on the competitor’s boats is a step in the right direction.

Now fans can sit in the stands and watch the direction and speed of the competitors on the big screen.

—

There are many other tech advancements involved in the 2016 Rio Olympics, but these are nine that we felt were worthy examples of innovation at this year’s Games.

So sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy all the action brought to you in so many different ways, just do not forget to wipe your buttery fingers off before grabbing your VR headset.