The Role of Technology in the Future of the Sports Sector

Do you ever just look at the simplest appliance, maybe even a toaster, and begin to wonder how the first people to invent it even came up with the idea? It’s overwhelming how far we’ve come since then. It’s still shocking to think about how vital a part technology plays in our lives.

Now, if we talk about sports, you might not instantly see a correlation between it and modern technology, but trust me – they happen to be very much connected. In the recent years, you may have noticed that sporting events have been gaining a lot of popularity and take place at a much larger scale than they used to. Most of them are broadcasted globally, and aside from this, even in the actual games, technology plays an undeniably vital part.

In order to understand better how exactly technology helps better the sports sector, we need to understand what areas of it are directly affected by it. What are some things that we are very much used to but they could not have been possible if it weren’t for technology? These things are usually in plain sight, but we are so used to seeing them seamlessly fit into the whole scenario, we’re unable to pay much attention to them.

A lot of professional content writers are focusing on understand the direct impact of technology on the sports sector, let’s dive into it and try to break things down.

HANS—it’s not the one from Frozen

Have you ever seen someone traveling on a motorbike without a helmet and instantly had a mini heart attack? The Head and Neck Support device is for daredevils like that. Since safety is usually the greatest concern when it comes to sports, these devices naturally gained the most popularity out of any of the other devices that have been developed so far, as useful as they may be.

What brought about this popularity was the increase in deaths occurring in the sports sector due to head or neck injuries. The most common types of accidents impact these areas, due to them being the most sensitive and needing the most protection. This is why, the HANS devices began to gain popularity.

• It is a U-shaped device placed behind the neck and comes down to the chest, covering the shoulders. It protects you down to the pectoral muscles.
• In sports that require a lot of uncontrollable movements, the HANS device can be great for preventing sudden jerks that could result in a whiplash, or excessive twisting of the neck

The concept of Hawk Eye

What first comes to mind when you read the name of this technology? Maybe something related to height, watching from an altitude? And that’s exactly what it is! You have probably seen this in a VR video game, or even a regular game. Different cameras situated at varying angles record the trajectory of any moving object present in the game being played.

Even with judges, conflicts often arise during games between participants. The judges eye has a limit to its accuracy, and this technology makes sure that no guesses have to be made on anything. You can play back whatever was recorded and it will easily tell you what you missed—it’s a foolproof way to judge! It has now been over a decade since it was first used, and the application and accuracy has improved drastically since.

• It gets rid of conflict during a game by making accurate decisions that a human eye could not.
• Match referees benefit from it due to their decision becoming much easier. They also face much less criticism from the players or the spectators.
• During a game, decisions have to be made very quickly. This saves a lot of time because there’s usually zero room for error, and this eliminates any doubts that people may have.

The most obvious one—videography

This one might be confusing you a little – after all, videography has been around for quite some time, hasn’t it? The technology we are talking about here is live broadcasting. In the past, sporting events were usually recorded on tape and broadcast-ed at least an hour after the actual game ended. This lessened the hype and you wouldn’t really be able to get the full experience unless you were physically there.

Conveniently enough, everything is live now, and not just on your TV—it’s on your phone, laptop, tablet. Basically, you can see the live broadcast for anything no matter where you are, at any time. Watching sports has never been more thrilling, because you can record, replay, and even share it with your friends. Isn’t that what we always longed to do?

• The restriction of only being able to watch sports after the actual event had already been completed is no longer a problem.
• You can use any device available to you, the only thing you would need is a decent internet connection. It’s like having a visually representing radio!

Track them in real-time—wearable technology

When a professional sportsman is training, they usually have to push themselves to their limits. Those limits are unknown, even by them, so if their health is not kept track of, it could result in even their death. A lot of times, simply getting too dehydrated could be extremely dangerous for a person, and that is why, wearable computers were invented. It uses a tiny health monitoring system to keep track of things like pulse rate, hydration, and temperature, in order to make sure that the athlete isn’t pushing himself too hard.

• Small computing devices like the Apple Watch ensure a healthy training session for anyone who wears it. It prevents them from pushing themselves to a point where it becomes unhealthy.
• Since this technology has been invented, the health risk has lessened drastically. There has been a rapid drop in the number of deaths caused by health problems due to exercise and such, meaning this technology has become one of the most vital parts of the sports industry.

A lot of major computer companies have been coming out with these wearable computers due to them being incredibly helpful and easy to carry.

Prosthetics

In the past, a lot of people who lost limbs or got into accidents had to give up their dream or their career altogether. After a lot of development, prosthetics became a very common thing, allowing people to continue to function in sports even after having been disabled. The advancements in prosthetics technology have ensured that people with physical disabilities can compete like any other people.

• This technology is brilliant due to the precision and creativity it requires in order to just be effective. It has to be built differently for every person; customization is always required so they can’t really be made in bulk. Scientists working on it have to constantly come up with new ideas to better the experience, and while we still may be far from perfect, this technology is nothing less than revolutionary.
• Not only does it help in the sports sector, prosthetic allow almost anyone to live a life as close to normal as possible. Artists, musicians, almost anyone can continue to live their passion with the help of this amazing technology.

Keep your body in check

Possibly the greatest cause for most injuries and problems during games and such are due to body temperatures not being balanced or kept check of. Supervising things like vital signs and heart rate can be really difficult to do manually, especially if you are low on time. Indigestible thermometer pills allow doctors to know everything they need to about your physical condition and your vitals, and all you need to do is swallow them!

• This will allow problems to be solved before any accidents are caused. This means better health over all for the athletes.
• The pill works by moving around in the gastrointestinal tract and transmitting information it gathers there to the medical personnel waiting for it. Its mind-blowing accuracy and the idea of a pill literally monitoring you from inside your body is a pretty cool thing to think about.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the sports sector is already being impacted greatly by technology today. There is no doubt that it will continue to spread until we have solutions for every problem the industry currently faces, so we’re making great use of our resources to better every aspect of our lives that we possible can. The fact that this has already kept so many people alive and helped them escape injuries and a lot of life-and-death situations is proof that this technology holds a lot for us in the near future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nichols is a lecturer and former graduate from North Illinois University. He was often chosen for public speaking in school, due to his strong opinions and voice. His love for writing led him to his first job at best product description writing, and he then started building the rest of his career.