Sports has always been a mode of entertainment for people from all walks of life. Many are simple viewers of these activities being played. But some engage and participate in the actual sport, which gives them great joy in life.
As time went by, technology evolved and was slowly incorporated into every existing industry, including that of sports. Technology is continuously being created to make our lives easier and more convenient, so it logically melds well with sports as entertainment.
But we don’t usually see or notice how technology is always in these activities, and we sometimes fail to recognize how they made sports more fun for all of us. So here are some ways that technology changed sports for us to be more appreciative of its integration.
Safety Gears
Safety will always be an essential part of playing any sport. All sports activities have a certain level of risk for bodily harm and injuries, so safety gears are always being updated to ensure that players get to play without danger.
Helmets are being modified to become lighter and thinner for the comfort of the users. They should still be durable and strong enough to withstand shocks that may damage players’ heads, especially in sports with flying projectiles like baseball and football.
Mouthguards are also created to further protect the face, most specifically the teeth, from things like punches. Different kinds of footwear are made to suit different sports. For instance, you can wear ski boots from Nordica to trek through snow and still have comfort and grip to the ground.
Health Monitors
Still related to players’ safety, technology helps monitor athletes’ health before and after their games. With the rise of sensor technology, players can monitor their physical attributes like heart rate and blood pressure using lightweight and wearable devices.
Some also help to monitor progress like distances traveled by runners and cyclists and time consumed by people like sprinters. Outside of the sport, players are still further examined using technology made for medical purposes to assess their readiness to play their respective sport.
Digital Ads
Avid sports fans are no stranger to the concerning number of advertisements in big and popular events. These range from large tarpaulins and printed logos on the athletes’ clothes to digital photos and videos on the game site and live streams for home viewers. As technology advanced, businesses used it to create advertisements that would reach a larger group of viewers. Hence, it is logical that sports communities with millions of audiences are filled with these brand placements.
Instant Replays
Sports fans love to watch the best bits and moments of certain sports games, so instant replays are developed to satisfy this demand. At first, this kind of technology was used to settle quick instances where winners have to be declared with only split-second differences.
Cameras capture what the human eye cannot. They record it for later viewing and help to eliminate claims without evidence. They also help mitigate the biases of referees that can be swayed towards one player for a fair game. But today’s live streaming of almost every sport makes use of instant replays to record and reshow beautiful shots of the movement of the athletes. This is what viewers love to watch over and over again.
Digital Sports
The term sports, which seemed to only refer to physically played activities before, are now widening to include digital activities like online games and gambling. “E-sports” has become a legitimate term for games that are played online. Game developers are organizing events similar to traditional sports in terms of the number of viewers and hype for said tournaments.
This spilling of sports to the digital world proves that technology will continue to elevate the scope of the sports industry. More and more opportunities are being created so that everyone can participate in any sport that they like, even only by moving their hands and fingers.
Sports will always be filled with technology and will continue to be improved by it. Safety is one of the most important aspects of playing a sport, so technology must be used all the time to minimize any risk of injury. Our preferences in entertainment will also always play a part in this as modern gadgets have proven themselves capable of giving us access to viewing sports anytime, anywhere.
It is now inevitable for new sports to be invented as the digital world becomes integrated into reality. Technology is here to stay in the world of sports so let us keep up with its uses to benefit from its wonders and enjoy ourselves while engaging with our favorite sports activities.
