The Technologies Changing How You’ll Watch the 2026 Winter Olympic Games Leave a comment

Through the 2024 Summer time Olympics in Paris, 5G and 4K have been the main applied sciences accessible to many viewers. There was some AI, however it was principally used for athletes’ profit. For the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Video games there will likely be extra know-how than ever, for each athletes and followers.

A lot of that know-how has by no means been used on the Video games earlier than, says Yiannis Exarchos, the managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Companies and govt director of Olympic Channel Companies. The 2 organizations are accountable for producing a lot of the tv, radio, and digital protection, and content material on Olympics.com. “In Milano Cortina, folks can have unprecedented experiences,” Exarchos says.

Right here’s the whole lot you’ll want to know.

Drone Views of Athlete Performances

One of many massive applied sciences coming to the Milano Cortina Olympics are first-person view, or FPV, drones. These radio-controlled plane transmit photos from their onboard cameras in actual time to “supply dynamic views on the race tracks,” Exarchos explains.

This yr’s Video games can even be the primary to supply 360-degree real-time replay. Supplied as a part of a collaboration with Alibaba, the system makes use of multi-camera replay methods and stoboscopic evaluation to ofter multi-angle views, freeze frames, and slow-motion photos of athlete’s unbelievable strikes.

One other first is a brand new monitoring system for curling stones. “It will likely be attainable to view the trail, pace, and rotation of every stone in actual time,” Exarchos explains. Suspended rail cameras and ice-level views will assist viewers perceive the sport higher, as will detailed stone trajectory graphics and real-time knowledge.

The Olympics’ New AI Device: Olympic GPT

Received 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 data on sport laws, and, for the primary time, can have the flexibility to work together with questions in regards to 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 resolve what to discover additional, whereas additionally enhancing accessibility and studying from cellular gadgets.”

Digital Video Manufacturing

For the 2026 Winter Olympic Video games, numerous the video manufacturing will likely be shifting to the cloud. Digital outdoors broadcasting (OB) vans will assist decentralize the method of getting photos 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 pace skating.

Every part will likely be managed by means of a wholly cloud-based grasp management room not too long ago examined on the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January. There, area financial savings have been 75 p.c over the earlier championship, whereas power consumption was diminished by 65 p.c.

The Olympics’ Massive Information Second

For this winter’s Video games, Olympic Broadcasting Companies can also be testing an automatic description platform to assist groups handle the massive quantity of video coming in stay throughout their occasions. “Synthetic intelligence breaks down broadcasts into searchable clips, suggests shot descriptions and key phrases, and helps customers rapidly discover highlights, making storytelling quicker and simpler,” says Exarchos. AI will then analyze real-time site visitors spikes on Olympics.com and determine essentially the most useful moments for followers.

This story initially appeared in WIRED Italia. It has been translated from Italian.