The Olympic Games are the world’s ultimate sporting contest, but it’s not only the athletes who are at the top of their game in Paris this year. Swiss tech company Insiders are piloting their Infinity technology in the sailing event, a product developed under ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme with the potential to revolutionise the way we watch endurance sport.
Whilst fans of team and mechanical sports such as football and motor racing are accustomed to increasingly sophisticated viewing experiences and second screen app options, replicating this across outdoor endurance sports is more challenging. Infinity uses Global Navigation Satellite Service (GNSS) with Real-time kinematic (RTK) technology to provide positioning information to within cm accuracy, implementing existing RTK base station and cellular antenna infrastructure and a dedicated server to interpret the data in real-time. Long Term Evolution Machine (LTE-M) technology ensures global connectivity, even in remote areas with poor network coverage.
The Infinity system provides athletes with cutting-edge tracking units which transmit data live to the Insiders server. It is then processed in real-time and seamlessly shared on screen, giving viewers live updates and insights into the athlete’s performance to enhance the traditional screening provision. No longer the preserve of the arena and track supporters, fans of endurance sports can also now immerse themselves in the action, experiencing the thrill of their favourite sports competitions in real-time with unrivalled accuracy.
Davide Coppola, Head of Space Applications Initiatives Systems at ESA, said “This is one of the projects that came through our Space for Olympic Games funding call and it is especially exciting to see the results in action at such an important competition.”
With successful pilots testing the integration and validation of dedicated APIs, as well as the anti-rust and waterproof robustness of the devices, completed earlier this year, Insiders have already sold a number of units to a range of clients, with more in the pipeline. Whilst the focus is on the sailing at the Olympics, the system is also designed for other outdoor sports such as cycling, trail running and triathlons and has the potential to transform the way competitive endurance sports competitions are broadcast and viewed.
"The Infinity project required twelve months of R&D and significant investment, bringing together our ecosystem and demonstrating our capabilities" says Julien Moix, CEO of Insiders. "Our ambition has always been to add extra value to the sport by providing highly accurate data. We are proud to offer our technology in service of the Olympic Games, the sailing community, and their international fans."