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2023 Sports Technology Forum and Exhibition: Integrating Technology to Explore Future Trends in the Sports Industry
The 2023 Sports Technology Forum and Exhibition, guided by the Ministry of Education's Sports Administration, was held on January 7th at the Chung Cheng Gym of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). This event aimed to promote the "Cultivation of Sports Technology Talent and Construction of Intelligent Sports Halls with Multifaceted Perception, Identification, and Display through Field Integration, Teaching, Experimentation, and Practice" project. The forum was divided into two major domains: Technology × Sports Venues and Technology × Sports Events. Through showcasing examples of the integration of technology and sports, the event aimed to contemplate future trends in the sports industry. The exhibition featured five domestic sports technology companies or schools displaying innovations spanning baseball, basketball, cycling, table tennis, and kayaking. By utilizing technology to collect sports data, both professional athletes and the general public could experience novel sporting experiences due to technology's intervention.
In the Technology × Sports Events forum, Professor Ming-Ren Lin from National Taiwan University (NTU) highlighted the current applications of sports technology and industry development projects, ranging from competitive sports to mass sports, indicating that everyone, from elite athletes to ordinary people, could experience the integration of sports and technology. For instance, President Cheng-Wen Wu of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUST) introduced the Statcast system adopted by Major League Baseball, which enhances player abilities through big data analysis, allowing viewers to understand the evolution of players through data on the Baseball Savant website. Director Tsun-Yao Hou of the Kaohsiung City Sports Development Bureau contrasted traditional broadcasts with multi-angle viewing, finding that watching multiple perspectives simultaneously provides viewers with the first response of supporting teams or opponent players facing game changes, enhancing the sense of presence and the three-dimensional sense of game broadcasting.
In the Technology × Sports Venues forum, the focus was on analyzing and enhancing athletes' physical fitness through technology equipment installed within venues. Director Han-Yuan Chu of FitFunFitness Co., Ltd. proposed the concept of intelligent venues, integrating AI into fitness venue operations and automatically generating training programs based on individual parameters, solving the problem of people not knowing where to start when exercising while facilitating coaches in planning courses for members. General Manager Jie-Cheng Chen of Quanyue Sports Business introduced the 4T principle (Testing, Training, Tracking, Translating), assisting people and athletes in improving sports performance through scientific training methods. The Quanyue Sports Business-owned Anyou Fresh Material Baseball Team follows this scientific training system, providing capital for young players to play abroad or impact the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
Dong-Hong Lu, the general manager of uCare Medical Electronics, believes that the purpose of technology is to enhance the sports experience by integrating fitness with video games. Through immersive sports experiences, feelings of breathlessness and fatigue during exercise are transformed into excitement and excitement through games, achieving better and more lasting fitness effects. Therefore, uCare Medical Electronics cooperates with fitness gym operators to create digital fitness gyms. In addition to integrating fitness processes with gaming experiences, it also presents data-driven sports reports to gym users, allowing users to feel the results of their training, developing products with a focus on people, and thereby creating commercial value.
Bo-Heng Lin, CEO of the Industry Accelerator at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), mentioned in the sharing session, "In the post-epidemic era, the popularization of technology applications and wearable devices has created new industry trends." This indicates a paradigm shift in sports patterns. In the sports and fitness trends announced by the Sports Administration, virtual reality training occupies a place, and e-sports bicycles are one example. Domestic e-sports bicycle manufacturer WhiizU simulates classic race routes through route restoration systems, considering external factors such as wind resistance, slope, and road surface differences, and calculates riding speed by incorporating pedal power into the calculation model, enabling simulation of actual riding conditions indoors. Secretary-General Li Kai-zhi of the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association also pointed out that the association has cooperated with WhiizU in the past to host the Taiwan Cup International Cycling E-sports Competition, inviting domestic and foreign cyclists to compete, becoming a new internationally promoted event in Taiwan; for athletes, the integration of sports and technology allows them to maintain their physical fitness through e-sports competitions despite epidemic restrictions.
In addition to benefiting athletes from the integration of sports and technology, there are also software applications available to amateur athletes and the general public to enhance sports performance. The b4-app designed by KeepTossingLab is an application that detects swing movements and instantly analyzes batting initial speed and batting angle, allowing people to analyze their batting mechanisms through their smartphones. Batting angle and initial speed are the main data used to measure batting quality. Players or coaches can improve their batting rates through the detection of the b4-app, which is suitable for ordinary people or non-professional athletes, who can also collect data through repeated tests to find the most suitable batting mechanism for themselves.
The exhibition also featured notable contributions from academia, presenting cutting-edge research results. For instance, the table tennis trajectory tracking and technical analysis system developed by Professor Wei-Ta Chu's team from the Department of Computer Science at NCKU accurately marks the landing point of returns, significantly saving time compared to traditional manual ball tracking methods. This system is well-suited for applications in table tennis event broadcasting and data collection. Additionally, Professor Min-Jun Hu's team from National Tsing Hua University showcased an AI basketball analysis and VR training system. The former automatically marks shooting points and detects shooting patterns, while the latter can be used to train athletes' responsiveness.
Through the discussions and exhibitions held as part of the "Cultivation of Sports Technology Talent and Construction of Intelligent Sports Halls with Multifaceted Perception, Identification, and Display through Field Integration, Teaching, Experimentation, and Practice" project, attendees had the opportunity to understand practical examples of integrating sports and technology. From the emerging business models of intelligent venues shared during this event, one could observe elements of collaboration among various stakeholders, technological expertise provided by academia, and research and marketing capabilities from the industry. This echoes the official advocacy for the trend of sports science. With the ongoing innovation in technology, it is anticipated that sports and technology will continue to integrate more widely and comprehensively.
In the Technology × Sports Events forum, Professor Ming-Ren Lin from National Taiwan University (NTU) highlighted the current applications of sports technology and industry development projects, ranging from competitive sports to mass sports, indicating that everyone, from elite athletes to ordinary people, could experience the integration of sports and technology. For instance, President Cheng-Wen Wu of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology (STUST) introduced the Statcast system adopted by Major League Baseball, which enhances player abilities through big data analysis, allowing viewers to understand the evolution of players through data on the Baseball Savant website. Director Tsun-Yao Hou of the Kaohsiung City Sports Development Bureau contrasted traditional broadcasts with multi-angle viewing, finding that watching multiple perspectives simultaneously provides viewers with the first response of supporting teams or opponent players facing game changes, enhancing the sense of presence and the three-dimensional sense of game broadcasting.
In the Technology × Sports Venues forum, the focus was on analyzing and enhancing athletes' physical fitness through technology equipment installed within venues. Director Han-Yuan Chu of FitFunFitness Co., Ltd. proposed the concept of intelligent venues, integrating AI into fitness venue operations and automatically generating training programs based on individual parameters, solving the problem of people not knowing where to start when exercising while facilitating coaches in planning courses for members. General Manager Jie-Cheng Chen of Quanyue Sports Business introduced the 4T principle (Testing, Training, Tracking, Translating), assisting people and athletes in improving sports performance through scientific training methods. The Quanyue Sports Business-owned Anyou Fresh Material Baseball Team follows this scientific training system, providing capital for young players to play abroad or impact the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
Dong-Hong Lu, the general manager of uCare Medical Electronics, believes that the purpose of technology is to enhance the sports experience by integrating fitness with video games. Through immersive sports experiences, feelings of breathlessness and fatigue during exercise are transformed into excitement and excitement through games, achieving better and more lasting fitness effects. Therefore, uCare Medical Electronics cooperates with fitness gym operators to create digital fitness gyms. In addition to integrating fitness processes with gaming experiences, it also presents data-driven sports reports to gym users, allowing users to feel the results of their training, developing products with a focus on people, and thereby creating commercial value.
Bo-Heng Lin, CEO of the Industry Accelerator at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), mentioned in the sharing session, "In the post-epidemic era, the popularization of technology applications and wearable devices has created new industry trends." This indicates a paradigm shift in sports patterns. In the sports and fitness trends announced by the Sports Administration, virtual reality training occupies a place, and e-sports bicycles are one example. Domestic e-sports bicycle manufacturer WhiizU simulates classic race routes through route restoration systems, considering external factors such as wind resistance, slope, and road surface differences, and calculates riding speed by incorporating pedal power into the calculation model, enabling simulation of actual riding conditions indoors. Secretary-General Li Kai-zhi of the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association also pointed out that the association has cooperated with WhiizU in the past to host the Taiwan Cup International Cycling E-sports Competition, inviting domestic and foreign cyclists to compete, becoming a new internationally promoted event in Taiwan; for athletes, the integration of sports and technology allows them to maintain their physical fitness through e-sports competitions despite epidemic restrictions.
In addition to benefiting athletes from the integration of sports and technology, there are also software applications available to amateur athletes and the general public to enhance sports performance. The b4-app designed by KeepTossingLab is an application that detects swing movements and instantly analyzes batting initial speed and batting angle, allowing people to analyze their batting mechanisms through their smartphones. Batting angle and initial speed are the main data used to measure batting quality. Players or coaches can improve their batting rates through the detection of the b4-app, which is suitable for ordinary people or non-professional athletes, who can also collect data through repeated tests to find the most suitable batting mechanism for themselves.
The exhibition also featured notable contributions from academia, presenting cutting-edge research results. For instance, the table tennis trajectory tracking and technical analysis system developed by Professor Wei-Ta Chu's team from the Department of Computer Science at NCKU accurately marks the landing point of returns, significantly saving time compared to traditional manual ball tracking methods. This system is well-suited for applications in table tennis event broadcasting and data collection. Additionally, Professor Min-Jun Hu's team from National Tsing Hua University showcased an AI basketball analysis and VR training system. The former automatically marks shooting points and detects shooting patterns, while the latter can be used to train athletes' responsiveness.
Through the discussions and exhibitions held as part of the "Cultivation of Sports Technology Talent and Construction of Intelligent Sports Halls with Multifaceted Perception, Identification, and Display through Field Integration, Teaching, Experimentation, and Practice" project, attendees had the opportunity to understand practical examples of integrating sports and technology. From the emerging business models of intelligent venues shared during this event, one could observe elements of collaboration among various stakeholders, technological expertise provided by academia, and research and marketing capabilities from the industry. This echoes the official advocacy for the trend of sports science. With the ongoing innovation in technology, it is anticipated that sports and technology will continue to integrate more widely and comprehensively.
The 2023 Sports Technology Forum and Exhibition, guided by the Ministry of Education's Sports Administration, will be held on January 7th at the Chung Cheng Gym of NCKU.
Director Tsun-Yao Hou of the Kaohsiung Sports Development Bureau pointed out that watching multiple angles simultaneously allows viewers to witness the immediate reactions of supporting teams or opponent players to changes in the game, enhancing the immersive experience of watching and adding depth to the event's broadcast.
The Technology × Sports Venue Forum focuses on analyzing and enhancing athletes' physical fitness through the installation of technology equipment within sports venues.
The integration of sports and technology allows athletes to maintain their physical fitness during times of pandemic restrictions by participating in esports events as a form of training, even when faced with limitations on traditional sports activities.
The table tennis trajectory tracking and technical analysis system accurately marks the ball's landing spot, significantly saving time compared to the traditional method of manually marking each ball's trajectory.
