Throughout the 2024 Summer time Olympics in Paris, 5G and 4K had been the main applied sciences accessible to many viewers. There was some AI, nevertheless it was largely used for athletes’ profit. For the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games there will probably be extra know-how than ever, for each athletes and followers.
A lot of that know-how has by no means been used at the Video games before, says Yiannis Exarchos, the managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Companies and govt director of Olympic Channel Companies. The 2 organizations are liable for producing a lot of the tv, radio, and digital protection, and content material on Olympics.com. “In Milano Cortina, folks may have unprecedented experiences,” Exarchos says.
Right here’s all the pieces you want to know.
New Applied sciences at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Drone Views of Athlete Performances
Considered one of the large applied sciences coming to the Milano Cortina Olympics are first-person view, or FPV, drones. These radio-controlled plane transmit pictures from their onboard cameras in actual time to “supply dynamic views on the race tracks,” Exarchos explains.
This yr’s Video games may also be the first to supply 360-degree real-time replay. Provided as a part of a collaboration with Alibaba, the system makes use of multi-camera replay techniques and stoboscopic evaluation to ofter multi-angle views, freeze frames, and slow-motion pictures of athlete’s unimaginable strikes.
One other first is a brand new monitoring system for curling stones. “Will probably be attainable to view the path, velocity, and rotation of every stone in actual time,” Exarchos explains. Suspended rail cameras and ice-level views will assist viewers perceive the recreation higher, as will detailed stone trajectory graphics and real-time information.
The Olympics’ New AI Device: Olympic GPT
Obtained a query about this yr’s Video games? Olympic GPT is right here to assist. The bot focuses on producing content material for the Olympics.com web site. It’ll supply real-time outcomes and information on sport laws, and, for the first time, may have the means to work together with questions on the outcomes of ongoing competitions.
“Synthetic-intelligence-based article summaries on Olympics.com will give followers a fast and clear overview,” Exarchos says. “They spotlight key factors to assist customers determine what to discover additional, whereas additionally bettering accessibility and studying from cell gadgets.”
Digital Video Manufacturing
For the 2026 Winter Olympic Video games, quite a lot of the video manufacturing will probably be transferring to the cloud. Digital outdoors broadcasting (OB) vans will assist decentralize the strategy of getting pictures from occasions to followers’ screens. Utilizing digital cloud infrastructure, organizers say, helps cut back power consumption by some 50 p.c and permits distant manufacturing for occasions like curling and velocity skating.
Every little thing will probably be managed by way of a completely cloud-based grasp management room just lately examined at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January. There, house financial savings had been 75 p.c over the earlier championship, whereas power consumption was decreased by 65 p.c.
The Olympics’ Huge Information Second
For this winter’s Video games, Olympic Broadcasting Companies is additionally testing an automatic description platform to assist groups handle the enormous quantity of video coming in reside throughout their occasions. “Synthetic intelligence breaks down broadcasts into searchable clips, suggests shot descriptions and key phrases, and helps customers shortly discover highlights, making storytelling quicker and simpler,” says Exarchos. AI will then analyze real-time site visitors spikes on Olympics.com and determine the most respected moments for followers.
This story initially appeared in WIRED Italia. It has been translated from Italian.
Disclaimer: This article is sourced from external platforms. OverBeta has not independently verified the information. Readers are advised to verify details before relying on them.
