The athletes at the 2018 Olympics demonstrated their strength and precision this year, but they weren’t the only ones putting on a show. Technology flexed its muscles as well in Pyeongyang, South Korea with plenty of digital brawn. From 4K broadcasts, large-scale video walls, drone security, wearable technology and much more, there was a lot to experience that was both visible to the audience and athletes as well as behind the scenes.
South Korea is the world’s fifth largest exporter and home to tech giants including LG, Samsung and Hyundai—all of whom demonstrated their technological prowess to the world at the Olympics this year. Hyundai’s self-driving buses transported incoming spectators, reporters, and celebrities to and from the airport. Samsung provided VR experiences including snowboarding, skeleton, skiing and even a space mission to the moon. LG’s robot, the LG HOM-BOT could be found offering gate information in the airport, translating foreign languages, serving drinks, and even cleaning floors as they went with their vacuuming capability.
Broadcasters aired events in Ultra-High Definition (UHD), 4K and Virtual Reality (VR). Intel’s True View multiview cameras captured 50 hours of real-time 360-degree VR footage of 30 sports including the opening and closing ceremonies, Alpine skiing, snowboarding and figure skating. Leyard provided multiple fine-pitch LED video walls for NBC’s Olympic coverage on its broadcast sets in South Korea.
Security was tight and high tech solutions were used to monitor areas in and around the Olympics. Drones were utilized to inspect activity on the ground with HD and thermal imaging cameras while drones with radar networks kept an eye on the sky.
