“Expanding Sports Science Research Capacity and Results”
Eye On Taiwan Media Special Report: In 2022, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) launched a program to expand sports technology. The program applies current research on sports science and technology to popularize public fitness, promote international cooperation, cultivate interdisciplinary talents and advance the sports industry and economy. In doing so, it increases the shared value of research on sports technology.
With the program now its second year, the NTNU team, under the leadership of Professor Mei-Yen Chen, chose three elite groups to go to the 2024 TaiSPO and showcase what this program has accomplished by integrating government, industry and academia. These groups represented the “Yoyo Deep Breath” app, the “Taiwan Sailing Navigation System” and “Sports Fun – Sports Events Over-the-top (OTT) Restreaming Service and Intelligent Autonomous Broadcasting Technology.”
“Breathe deep” to turn your hike into a conversation activity
Social media has already become inseparable from modern life. To help people get more from their hiking experiences, the “Yoyo Deep Breath” app shows the weather, records your route and calculates how much you reduced carbon emissions by walking. Through the app’s interface, you can share your hikes with your friends and look for new trails. You can also record any notes and memories from your journey. This exclusive smart platform gives users a greater sense of achievement and happiness from their exercise.
AI technology makes streaming sports that much easier
Since the development of 5G mobile networks, the internet has considerably sped up. In the online world, personal media has almost completely replaced traditional media, becoming a daily norm in people’s lives. By using “Sports Fun – Sports Events Over-the-top (OTT) Restreaming Service and Intelligent Autonomous Broadcasting Technology,” content creators can livestream sporting events without the need for a big team. By setting up four cameras from different angles and connecting them to a stable internet, you can livestream sporting events at a professional level. In 2024 this technology system cooperated with the Fubon Guardians baseball team to livestream warm-up matches. This way, baseball fans can also enjoy watching the warm-ups.
A Feng Chia University student on the research team commented that for most sporting event broadcasts, the director needs to cut from one camera to the next for the audience to clearly understand what’s going on. But with technology like Sports Fun, AI takes over this role and decides which visuals to display when. The director need only describe what they want, greatly simplifying the process of livestreaming events. With this streaming technology, even amateur and student sporting events can be streamed at a very low cost. By livestreaming events on a big screen, more teammates and classmates can cheer on their friends and enjoy the sense of victory. This is a prime example of how technology can bring sports into everyone’s lives.
Trac Trac integrates 3D simulation and data analysis to improve sailing broadcasts
The Taiwan Sailing Navigation System, Trac Trac, tracks sail boats in real time. By integrating SAP data analysis, Gopro sports videography and Njordr recording, this system excels at displaying sailing activities. Not only does the software analyze sailor’s performance and skills, but it integrates the weather with 3D visualization to show sailing races. This system greatly improves the graphics and data of sailing broadcasts, increasing audience interest and the visibility of sailing events.
“Games Wide Open” – integrating fitness into public life
Aligning with the 2024 Paris Olympics theme “Games Wide Open,” NTNU and NSTC’s cooperative program has made sports more accessible to the public in Taiwan. At the 2024 TaiSPO, the program joined forces with Bureau Français de Taipei to bring the Paris Olympics’ spirit of openness to TaiSPO. Their joint booth included a Paris Olympics activity area and posters presenting research results. They gave visitors an immersive sports experience and promoted the concept of “sports everywhere.”
Their booth also included Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Chen Yi-an’s “Gold Medal Handmade Soap” and a shopping bag signed by multiple athletes. Visitors gained an even deeper sense of the connection between life and sports.
Furthermore, on March 9 at 10:00am on the main stage sports companies, scholars and representatives from France and Taiwan hosted a forum on the “Development and Diversity of Sports Cultures” and “Start-Ups and the Expansion of Sports Technology.” They were joined by weightlifter Chen Wen-huei and swimmer Wang Kuan-hung. This informative forum brought together government, industry and academia, helping industry professional and the public to better understand sports technology, diversity and openness.