Boston Games Could Show Off High-Tech

The city — selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the nation’s official entrant to host in 2024 — is uniquely positioned to pioneer these top five innovations that could enhance the experience of spectators and athletes.

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(TNS) The possibility of the Olympics coming to Boston in 2024 is an unprecedented opportunity for the local science and technology scene to usher in a new era of innovation.

Already, the city — selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the nation’s official entrant to host in 2024 — is uniquely positioned to pioneer these top five innovations that could enhance the experience of spectators and athletes:

• Devices that let users speak a new language without learning it. (For “Star Trek” fans, think “universal translator.”) A beta version of that technology already exists: the Skype Translator, designed by Microsoft. Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge could lead the way in adapting that technology to the needs of Olympic tourists.

• Augmented-reality viewing. Imagine being able to wear wireless glasses that provide comprehensive information about the athlete you’re watching from the stands, from their vital signs in real-time to their biography. Alternatively, augmented reality could come in the form of new super-mobile apps, guiding visitors around an unfamiliar city and serving as a digital tourist assistant. The MIT Media Lab is the perfect clearinghouse to design a new way to watch the games and visit Boston.

• ??Holographic viewing for at-home spectators. Microsoft is working on holographic technology that could bring a 3-D version of what you’re watching to your living room or even project immersive views beyond the television and onto an empty wall.

• ??New athlete wearables. Boston is a health IT hub and host to extraordinary app makers like Runkeeper. We’re in the perfect position to design new hardware and software that detects and delivers the most accurate and interesting real-time information about athletes. Not only will that be a fun development for spectators, but also a potential method to detect and prevent doping.

• Automated transportation. Whether it’s Boston’s Zipcar or the many innovators at MIT who have explored autonomous vehicles, the Hub should be the city that brings self-driving cars to consumers. That technology is likely to go mainstream before 2024, but all the better if visitors to Boston get first crack at being ferried from venue to venue — even those outside the city — without having to drive themselves.

App developers, entrepreneurs and other innovators should share their own ideas, too. And there are many opportunities, such as Boston 2024’s first Citizens Advisory Group meeting, scheduled for Wednesday at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center at 6 p.m.

“With Boston’s high-tech sector and wealth of local talent, Boston 2024 will showcase our innovation economy and groundbreaking technologies as we build off of what previous Olympic Games have done,” said Boston 2024 executive vice-president Erin Murphy Rafferty, noting that both the Sochi and London games featured user-friendly fan apps.

With the International Olympic Committee pushing for a greater emphasis on innovation and sustainability, Boston’s unique technological prowess may just be what puts its application above the rest.

©2015 the Boston Herald


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