During the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics last month, the incorporation of drones and virtual reality (VR) technology drew the attention of the world. (Image: Yonhap)
DAEJEON, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — During the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics last month, the incorporation of drones and virtual reality (VR) technology drew the attention of the world.
Research into VR has grown in recent years. The Korean Intellectual Property Office noted that it had received 2,475 patent applications between 2010 and 2016. Of these, 75 were sports related, 876 pertained to broadcasting, and 1,124 centered on 3-D modeling and simulation.
From 2010 to 2012, patent applications by year were on the downturn, but starting from 2013 this number picked back up and continuously increased onwards to 2016.
VR is known to have helped athletes improve their performance in training.
Since it can generate an artificial setting that nonetheless closely resembles live contest environments, VR provides the benefits of saving costs as well as time and space, all while greatly reducing the risk of physical injury. Thanks to these advantages, not only was VR utilized by winter athletes, it is in use by athletes in a variety of sports.
South Korea’s bobsleigh and skeleton teams are but two examples of the sports world embracing technology, as they began using VR during training in 2014.
The U.S. ski and snowboard team revealed that they likewise had made use of VR when preparing for the recent Winter Olympics.
The implementation of VR has served athletes well. South Korea’s Yun Sung-bin won Asia’s first gold in the skeleton, while the bobsleigh team recorded its best-ever marks in their competition. Meanwhile, the American skiers and snowboarders left PyeongChang with seven medals, four of them gold gained from the snowboard, Alpine and freestyle performances.
The implementation of VR has served athletes well. South Korea’s Yun Sung-bin won Asia’s first gold in the skeleton, while the bobsleigh team recorded its best-ever marks in their competition. (Image: Yonhap)
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
