Fahrenheit 212 Sport: Why The Olympics are Innovation’s Grandest Stage

22_insights_lore-of-the-rings-conclusion

22_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-conclusion

Lore of The Rings: Conclusion

We hope you’ve enjoyed our three-part analysis of innovation at the Olympics. Now that the Olympics have concluded, we look forward to seeing where the innovations showcased in Pyeongchang will end up — we have a feeling that we will be seeing them in our everyday lives sooner rather than later. We hope our perspective on potential growth opportunities was helpful, and our concepts thought-provoking. From how the athletes prepare, to how we spectate, to how cities invest in themselves, the most recent Olympics proved to be yet another grand stage for Innovation, just like their predecessors. In addition to playing a vital role in a broader cultural and societal context, we believe they are a clear signal for what is next.
<img src="https://wp.frogdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-conclusion-01.jpg" width="100%" />
During our series, we investigated a broad variety of Olympic innovations through three major lenses — <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">athletes</a>, <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-the-fan-experience" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fans</a>, and <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cities</a> — to uncover their future potential impact.  Through our efforts we uncovered distinct opportunity spaces and found certain imperatives for acting on them:
<h3>Athletes</h3>
Opportunity Space:
<ul>
<li>Products that measure and analyze personal data in the moment and offer immediate assistance — either informative or preventative.</li>
</ul>
Imperatives:
<ul>
<li>Design an ecosystem around a human focal point, seamlessly marrying sensors, form, and instant responsiveness.</li>
<li>Speed of insight, not just quality of insight, will unlock the value of connected products, creating new opportunities to differentiate products.</li>
<li>Every apparel and equipment company is now an education company — it is time to help your buyers achieve better results.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h3>Fans</h3>
Opportunity Space:
<ul>
<li>Products that provide greater context and engagement to whatever you’re viewing through seamless access to live, relevant information.</li>
</ul>
Imperatives:
<ul>
<li>Treat your fan experience the same as an OTT channel — as a platform designed to be built upon.</li>
<li>Transform the 80% of game time spent in breaks into branded downtime.</li>
<li>Fans are becoming more like data scientists — feed them more information to feed their passion.</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h3>Cities</h3>
Opportunity Space:
<ul>
<li>Products that leverage technology to manage the influx of crowds and increase security in unwieldy circumstances.</li>
</ul>
Imperatives:
<ul>
<li>Look to airspace as a scalable and underused frontier for flexible security and development which can reduce overhead costs.</li>
<li>Develop networks of smart devices, such as drones and beacons, that are capable of being used for both general purposes like congestion management, and high impact niche use cases, such as emergencies.</li>
<li>Agree on flexible standards for product and service development that allow quick collection and dissemination of relevant data, utilizing past, present, and future infrastructure.</li>
</ul>
However, not satisfied with just projecting the potential impact across industries, we also had some of our best thinkers brainstorm potential concepts that we think could be viable mass-market products or services in the near term. The outputs were unique concepts related to opportunity spaces present for athletes, fans, and cities.
<img src="https://wp.frogdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-conclusion-02.jpg" width="100%" />
<section class="p-post__content">
<div class="c-wysiwyg">
From our analysis of athletes, we love the idea of wearables that are more biological and can offer more performance tracking functionality – whether in the moment or after the fact.  That is how we stumbled upon the  <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nourish | The Nutrition Tracker</a>. 
From our thought piece on fans, we love the idea of utilizing downtime in the fan experience to further engross them in the sport – which is how we landed on our second concept: <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-the-fan-experience" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LightBeam Media | on-court game statistics and replays during downtime</a>.
From our investigation of cities, we saw great potential in using networks of smart devices, headlined by drones, that allow cities to perform essential functions in a cheaper and more efficient way – resulting in <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">City Safety Network | Technology That Navigates Crowds Through Uncertainty</a>.
This has been a great opportunity to use inductive and deductive thinking to determine what the Olympics means to us culturally and industrially in order to understand where growth may come from in the near future.
While brainstorming is always fun, we had to add constraints in order to stay relevant and realistic. Our main constraint was the requirement for mass-market appeal and near-term adoption, which enabled us to avoid indulging in pure futurism – instead coming up with tangible outputs that cities or broadcasters could put into action in the near term. Our overall intent with these concepts was to get you thinking and asking the right questions. After all, the Olympics are just the stage – it’s the people, companies, and cities that fill it with memorable innovations.
&#8212;
We hope that you’ve found our analysis of innovation generated by the Olympics insightful. This was the conclusion to our series on innovation inspired by The Games, investigated through the lenses of <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">athletes</a>, <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-the-fan-experience" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fans</a>, and <a href="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/boiling-point/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cities</a>. If these chapters piqued your interest and you want to brainstorm, please get in touch with us via the author links at the top of the page.
</div>
<div class="p-post__tags"></div>
</section>

Nick Bertha

Author

nick_bertha

Nick_Bertha

21_insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development

21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development

Lore of The Rings: Innovation Inspired by Urban Development

The Olympics are a generator of global excitement and have played an important role in how host cities develop far beyond just hosting the event. From advances in security and wayfinding to transportation and green initiatives, innovations from past and present Olympics play an influential role in future urban development. Our last article focused on innovations in spectatorship and now in our final chapter of this series, we will look at how past innovations for Olympic host cities laid a strong foundation for later urban development, as well as offer our own projections on what future developments might look like based on what we saw during this Olympics.
&nbsp;
<h3>A history of innovation</h3>
Every four years, host cities search for cost-effective planning solutions that not only alleviate temporary spikes in population density but also catalyze a legacy of post-games development. The result is a sandbox and accelerator for infrastructure and service innovation, enabling more forward-thinking projects to get funded ahead of their time while also laying the groundwork for integration and acceptance in future urban development.
One example of this “sandbox accelerator” dates as far back as the 1964 Olympics. Knowing that each Olympics brings the challenge of moving an influx of visitors quickly throughout the city, Tokyo developed the Shinkansen train. The fastest train of its time, the Shinkansen used a range of advanced technology to reach high speeds as well as set a new standard for safety and comfort. Its success underscored the importance of high-speed rail and became the model for railway development worldwide.
<img src="https://wp.frogdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development-01.jpg" width="100%" />
&nbsp;
In one of the first attempts to be more sustainable, the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics set a new standard for environmental programs. With more than 20 sustainability projects initiated during the Games, preparations included the relocation of the speed skating arena to protect a sanctuary for rare birds, the construction of an underground ice hockey venue to preserve energy, and the fabrication of the Olympic medals themselves with reclaimed stone. Emphasis was also placed on the sustainable construction of the Olympic venues, which had been developed using predominantly local materials and strict energy-conserving measures. These efforts lead to the inclusion of environmental responsibility in the Olympic charter in 1996, as well as a sustainability program with the UN that endures to this day.
For the 2012 Olympics, London made major investments in its IT infrastructure, allowing for seamless delivery of pictures, texts, phone calls, and video — making it the most digitally enabled Games ever. Today, they are still known as the “Social Games.” To accomplish this, BT designed and delivered the first-ever converged communications network for the Summer Olympics, carrying voice, data, mobile, broadcast and wireless internet traffic on one all-purpose network. This converged network improved energy-efficiency and removed the need to build and power separate networks, in turn maximizing the potential for its reuse after the Games.
&nbsp;
<h3>What we saw in Pyeongchang</h3>
Each Olympic Games comes with its own unique, noticeable strides, and in the Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang, we saw transformative innovation in both transportation and security.
Each Olympic Games comes with its own unique, noticeable strides, and in the Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang, we saw transformative innovation in both transportation and security.
One of these transformational innovations was the use of AI in crowd-management technology. During this Olympics, there were intelligent robots in Seoul&#8217;s massive Incheon Airport, taking passengers to their gates, offering flight information, and even carrying their luggage. This crowd-management technology could offer a form of guidance and support well beyond airports, providing assistance in over-populated urban environments.
5G-equipped autonomous buses were another use of crowd-management technology during the Olympics. Developed by Hyundai and KT in partnership with Korea&#8217;s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, the buses moved guests around the city&#8217;s stadiums, slopes, and rinks. Mobility is on the top of everyone’s minds, and Pyeongchang has shown that the self-driving/connected car will soon become an integral asset for the general population.
Mobility is on the top of everyone’s minds, and Pyeongchang has shown that the self-driving/connected car will soon become an integral asset for the general population.
Additionally, as a way to ensure the safety of athletes and spectators alike, the Olympics featured drones that flew overhead in search of other, unidentified drones that might have posed a threat to the public; if a “good” drone suspected a drone to be “bad,” it would use a net to capture and drag it off-premise. This new safety strategy presents a tactic that can be applied to future large-scale events with security vulnerabilities.
&nbsp;
<h3>What might this look like in the future</h3>
The innovations we saw in crowd management and robotics-based security at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics are exciting because they leverage technology to manage the influx of crowds and increase security in unwieldy circumstances; a trend we believe will not only become more common at future Olympics but will have a major impact on urban planning as well.
&nbsp;
Concept 1: City Safety Network — Technology That Navigates Crowds Through Uncertainty
For example, while cities are designed to provide healthy and safe living for planned population growth, they struggle to adapt when sudden upticks in population size occur. 2017 marked a year of many dangerous events — whether a riot or a mass shooting — some of which occurred at large scale city-based events. In these moments, understanding when and what to do is never clear. However, a City Safety Network that mobilizes drones and connected smart devices through real-time data could offer immediate guidance and helpful wayfinding to a safe location during times of mass confusion. Beyond events, we also see this technology being impactful in other congestion-based issues where safety is a priority.
<img src="https://wp.frogdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development-02.jpg" width="100%" />
&nbsp;
Concept 2: GridMapper — The City-Wide Geo-Population Tracker
Another interesting application of this technology is in managing geo-population density. While predicting foot traffic is a “step” in the right direction when it comes to improving a city’s infrastructure, actually knowing foot traffic patterns as they happen live could allow for immediate adjustment and optimization. Introducing GridMapper, a network of beacons that sit atop cities’ largest buildings to track and analyze live changes in regional public population flow and provide insight into transit management. This data can be applicable to both the city and consumers alike, using the intel to establish adaptive transportation routes, increase police security and patrol, or to help city officials identify when public areas aren’t busy.
<img src="https://wp.frogdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development-03.jpg" width="100%" />
&nbsp;
<h3>What this means for you</h3>
The Olympics have and will serve as a catalyst for innovation in urban development. Cities of the future will use the blueprint outlined by the current Olympics to provide heightened, smarter security and intelligent wayfinding that cater to residents and visitors alike. Cities looking to grow and prosper under this blueprint should observe three maxims:
<ol>
<li>Look to airspace as a scalable and underused frontier for flexible security and development which can reduce overhead costs.</li>
<li>Develop networks of smart devices, such as drones and beacons, that are capable of being used for both general purposes like congestion management, and high impact niche use cases, such as emergencies.</li>
<li>Agree on flexible standards for product and service development that allow quick collection and dissemination of relevant data, utilizing past, present, and future infrastructure.</li>
</ol>
If you’re a city manager that wants to see your city thrive, you should ask yourself these three questions:
“What platforms can I create or use to build the services I need, sustainably, for the next 5-10 years?”
“What technology and infrastructure exist or needs to be developed in order to capture the data I need?”
“Are there newer, more innovative ways for me to manage how to keep citizens safe and productive whether on their typical daily commute or during emergencies?”
&#8212;
We hope that you’ve found our analysis of innovation surrounding cities insightful. This was the final chapter of our three-part series on innovation inspired by the Olympics, investigated through the lenses of athletes, fans, and cities. If this chapter inspired you, please look back at our chapters on <a href="https://www.frogdesign.com/designmind/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-the-fan-experience">fans</a> and <a href="https://www.frogdesign.com/designmind/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes">athletes</a>. Can’t get enough? Get in touch with us at F212 Sport via <a href="mailto:CNewman@fahrenheit-212.com?subject=F212%20Sport">Corey</a> — we love brainstorming with like-minded innovators.

Further Reading &amp; Sources:
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.information-age.com/gold-for-innovation-the-technology-legacy-of-the-london-2012-olympics-123457565/">http://www.information-age.com/gold-for-innovation-the-technology-legacy-of-the-london-2012-olympics-123457565/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.polecat.com/blog/tech-innovations-rio-olympics/">http://www.polecat.com/blog/tech-innovations-rio-olympics/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://shape.att.com/blog/futurecast-2028-la-olympics">https://shape.att.com/blog/futurecast-2028-la-olympics</a></li>
<li><a href="https://pc2018.com/pyeongchang-2018-to-use-robots-to-help-with-security-at-olympic-venues/">https://pc2018.com/pyeongchang-2018-to-use-robots-to-help-with-security-at-olympic-venues/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/lte-r-high-speed-train/">https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/lte-r-high-speed-train/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://greensportsblog.com/2017/05/23/pyeongchang-2018-how-green-will-the-winter-olympics-be-a-conversation-with-sustainability-manager-hyeona-kim/">https://greensportsblog.com/2017/05/23/pyeongchang-2018-how-green-will-the-winter-olympics-be-a-conversation-with-sustainability-manager-hyeona-kim/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://mashable.com/2017/06/21/intel-bringing-big-tech-to-olympics/#xnd3j9DLnSqo">https://mashable.com/2017/06/21/intel-bringing-big-tech-to-olympics/#xnd3j9DLnSqo</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610181/what-it-felt-like-to-visit-the-most-tech-centric-olympics-ever/">https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610181/what-it-felt-like-to-visit-the-most-tech-centric-olympics-ever/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/drone-wars-drone-catching-drones-used-winter-olympics-183119233.html">https://sports.yahoo.com/drone-wars-drone-catching-drones-used-winter-olympics-183119233.html</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/robots-will-lead-passengers-their-gate-seouls-airport-180963978/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/robots-will-lead-passengers-their-gate-seouls-airport-180963978/</a></li>
</ol>

21_insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes

21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes

Lore of The Rings: Innovation Inspired by Athletes

The difference between bringing home a medal at the Olympic Games or going home empty-handed can be a mere millisecond. When an athlete’s entire life’s work has culminated to that one moment, every second, every inch, and every advantage counts. To help gain that competitive edge, elite athletes and teams have begun to partner with technology companies, creating a win-win. Athletes get to test the the most avant-garde products that can help push them over the finish line, and marketers get to showcase their brand on the largest stage in the world. This rare opportunity allows brands to establish themselves as category leaders before the underlying product technology hits the consumer market.
In this chapter of our series we will analyze how products and technologies designed specifically for Olympic athletes have and continue to influence the consumer market, as well as offer our own projections on potential new concepts.
&nbsp;
<h3>A history of innovation</h3>
During the 2012 Summer Games Nike debuted its new Flyknit technology. Made of twisted fibers and constructed with a 3D printing process, it weighed much less than other high-performance shoes on the market. Nike-sponsored marathoners and Team USA medalists wore Flyknit on the podium, and soon thereafter shoes boasting the technology later launched commercially, finding resounding success. After expanding across multiple lines of business, the technology has earned Nike nearly $1B in sales.
Nike isn’t the only company that has used the Olympics to test and commercialize new products. Speedo became famous for a new swimsuit so advanced, it impacted the regulations of the entire sport. The LZR swimsuit,  showcased during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, constricted the torso and increased buoyancy.  The suit helped 98% of the swimmers wearing it secure gold at the games, and garnered nearly 100 World Records in less than 18 months. Rule changes were quickly put in place to neutralize such a potent advantage. These innovative swimsuits soon made their way to mass market, enabling mainstream swimmers to improve their performance as well.
<img src="https://wp.frogdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes-01.jpg" width="100%" />
&nbsp;
<h3>What we will see in Pyeongchang</h3>
A product launched at the World Skiing Championships, and perfected for its Olympic debut in South Korea, is the Dainese airbag. It is a vest containing seven sensors that can intelligently detect when a skier has lost control and inflates rapidly to help avoid serious injury. Already, these airbags have reduced injury rates during their years of testing in some of the biggest ski races around the world.
A second innovation developed for the Olympics this year is the Samsung Smart Suit. Designed for Dutch speed skaters to maximize their performance during training, this suit measures body posture through five embedded sensors and sends real-time data to their coach. If skaters’ bodies are not in the right position — a key factor in maximizing speed on the ice — coaches can notify the skater by sending them a notification via wrist vibration.
&nbsp;
<h3>What might this look like in the future</h3>
These data-driven products offer a powerful value proposition to Olympic athletes: the ability to measure and analyze their personal data in the moment and offer immediate assistance — either informative or preventative. Now that this technology has been tested on professional athletes, it has the potential to help the everyday athlete as well. Maybe a tech-embedded basketball sleeve that helps you understand your jump shot or even running socks that notify you when you’re about to strain a muscle in your calf.  However, what really excites us are the ways in which this underlying technology might cross categories to provide solutions for the everyday consumer as well.
&nbsp;
<h2>However, what really excites us are the ways in which this underlying technology might cross categories to provide solutions for the everyday consumer as well. </h2>
&nbsp;
For example, every year, 2.8 million people over the age of 65 fall, and about 800,000 end up being hospitalized with either a hip or head injury. A wearable safety belt that uses sensor technology to detect dangerous falls before they happen and deploy airbags to cushion the landing could be a potential solve. This would not only provide a new level of safety, but emotional security to the senior citizen community. To our delight, this piece of wearable tech is currently being pursued by a few companies and if successful, could reduce the annual <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adultfalls.html">$31 billion in medical costs they create</a>.
&nbsp;
Concept 1: Nourish — tech that tracks nutrition
Another possible application of this technology that is further down the road is a daily smart pill we like to call ‘Nourish.’ While diet and nutrition are a daily concern for almost everyone, maintaining it requires a level of active engagement, discipline, and education that most people don’t have. The Nourish smart pill would monitor your nutritional intake — calories, vitamins, minerals, caffeine, proteins — and let you know in the moment via an accompanying phone app what you need to eat, and how much, to hit your personal health goals. This form of nutritional technology could support consumers in their ongoing effort to achieve better health, carving out a niche area within the massive H&amp;W market at the intersection of supplement and tech.
<img src="https://www.fahrenheit-212.com/uploads/posts/2018/2/14/nourish[2]%20copy.png" alt="" width="600" />
<h3>What this means for you</h3>
This data-driven technology featured in the upcoming Olympics offers a new direction for today’s smart devices, which do measure and analyze your personal data in the moment, but only to provide interpretation and action after the fact. This new offering presents an opportunity for organizations to innovate around products that provide immediate action and support in real time.
In order to do so, we see three key areas of transformation:
<ol>
<li>Design an ecosystem around a human focal point, seamlessly marrying sensors, form, and instant responsiveness.</li>
<li>Speed of insight, not just quality of insight, will unlock the value of connected products, creating new opportunities to differentiate products.</li>
<li>Every apparel and equipment company is now an education company — it is time to help your buyers achieve better results.</li>
</ol>
So if you’re a brand that wants to win in this space, the questions you’ll need to ask yourself are:
“What kind of data should we capture and when?” 
“How should we capture it?” 
“How quickly can we provide it?” 
“What kind of assistance should we provide with this data?”
&#8212;
We hope that you’ve found our insights surrounding athlete-inspired innovation thought-provoking. We look forward to sharing the rest of our three part series in the coming weeks. The future chapters will provide a more in-depth review of the impact the Olympics has on innovation through the key lenses of fans and cities.

Further Reading &amp; Sources:
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.dainese.com/protection/d-air-ski/">https://www.dainese.com/protection/d-air-ski/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.letsgodigital.org/technology/samsung-smartsuit/">https://en.letsgodigital.org/technology/samsung-smartsuit/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/895286/high-tech-gear-olympic-athletes">https://www.fastcompany.com/895286/high-tech-gear-olympic-athletes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/1850/how-technology-will-affect-16-olympics">http://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/1850/how-technology-will-affect-16-olympics</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hip-air.com/en/">http://www.hip-air.com/en/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/motorcyclists-olympic-skiers-can-wear-airbags-will-bike-riders-follow/">https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/motorcyclists-olympic-skiers-can-wear-airbags-will-bike-riders-follow/</a></li>
</ol>

21_insights_lore-of-the-rings-a-trilogy

21_Insights_lore-of-the-rings-a-trilogy

Lore of the Rings: An Introduction

Whether it’s the first use of the stopwatch, the first TV broadcast of The Games, or the impending use of 5G, the Olympics are a chance for countries, brands, and athletes to demonstrate their might on a global stage. Behind all the impressive talent and athleticism is a patchwork of groundbreaking innovation that enhances the experience for athletes and viewer alike. From how the athletes prepare, to how we watch at home, the Olympics are one of innovation’s grandest stages. In addition to playing a vital role in a broader cultural and societal context, the Olympics serve as a pivotal signpost for what’s next.
The Olympics function as an R&amp;D accelerator. Similar to DARPA or other high-concept R&amp;D organizations, prototypes and concepts used in The Games often make their way to market afterward, eventually causing ripples that impact athletes, fans, and even cities. The unique circumstances surrounding the Olympic Games make it fertile ground for innovation. The blending of private/public institutions, the steadfast deadlines put into effect 8 years before the event, and the competitive spirit of The Games serve as catalysts for unprecedented advances in technology and experiences.
This vanguard culture benefits the athletes, fans, and hosting cities as well. Athletes are gatekeepers for performance products, serving as extreme test cases and marketing beacons for the general population. Fans reap the benefits of those high-stakes tests by getting access to the most successful, products and services launched at The Games. The fan experience is also heightened by the state-of-the art technology showcased in stadiums and for viewers at home. Cities benefit from the increased spotlight as well. The hard and fast deadlines that accompany such a large endeavor require municipalities to improve their ability to meet demands and accelerate development.
A closer look at the Olympics reveals that it is more than just an athletic competition; it is an ecosystem of innovation centered around products, services, design, data, and most importantly, people­. These are all categories that Fahrenheit 212 is well versed in and continually leveraging for its clients. As a community of innovators, thinkers, strategists, architects, and designers, we are dedicated to realizing the future and continually looking for what’s next. Which is why we believe the importance of the Olympics in the innovation landscape should not be overlooked. We view athlete performance, the fan experience, and city transformation in the Olympics as a significant lens for innovation. In this series we will take a look at this triad of stakeholders, offering our perspective on the past, present, and potential future of Olympic innovation as well as spotlighting some of our favorite concepts for 2020 and beyond.
&nbsp;
<h3>We view athlete performance, the fan experience, and city transformation in the Olympics as a significant lens for innovation.</h3>
&nbsp;
We hope that we’ve piqued your interest with this introduction and look forward to sharing the rest of our three part series in the coming weeks. The future chapters will provide a more in-depth review of the impact the Olympics has on innovation through the three key lenses of athletes, fans, and cities.
&nbsp;
<h3>Read the entire series here:</h3>
<a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chapter 1: Innovation Inspired by Athletes</a>
<a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-the-fan-experience" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chapter 2: Innovation Inspired by the Fan Experience</a>
<a href="https://www.frog.co/designmind/lore-of-the-rings-innovation-inspired-by-urban-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chapter 3: Innovation Inspired by Urban Development</a>

22_insights_esports-what-is-it-and-why-should-you-care

22_Insights_esports-what-is-it-and-why-should-you-care

eSports: What Is It and Why Should You Care?

Throughout my high school years, I was a “gamer.” I spent many nights playing Gears of War, Splinter Cell, and Halo on Xbox, collected all the consoles and accessories, and spent too much time playing online with friends. For us, it was cathartic, comedic, and just plain fun. As we got older, I outgrew this hobby and video games slowly faded from my life.
A few years ago, I was catching up with one of my old gaming friends. To my surprise, he had left Cornell to move to the west coast to play League of Legends professionally. Initially, I was shocked by the audacity of such a huge life change. Over time, and with more exposure to his new world, I learned that my friend was onto something. Today, he is a premier coach of a highly respected team. This was my introduction into the world of eSports.
Electronic sports, better known as “eSports,” or professional video gaming, has grown explosively since 2010, largely due to the introduction of live-streaming services like Twitch and overall advancements in connected and personal tech. With double digit growth in the past couple years, sellout crowds for live championships at major venues like Madison Square Garden, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-esports-scholarship-for-student-gamers-2016-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several universities</a> offering both eSports scholarships and intramural teams, the industry is well on track to reach a <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/29/sport/esports-revolution-revenue-audience-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$1 billion valuation by 2019</a>. While eSports, defined by rapid growth and fanatic fandom, still has a fair bit of growing to do before it is on par with traditional professional sports like baseball, football, or soccer, the industry is ripe with innovation opportunity for both businesses and individuals.
Here are five key opportunities to be aware of in the eSports world:
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<h3>Opportunity 1: Bring the eSports World to Life</h3>
Stadiums are the undisputable home of fandom for traditional sports teams. The <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/31/sport/esports-is-professional-gaming-a-sport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increase of live eSports tournaments</a> and viewership has driven the need for well-equipped venues for gaming fans to congregate. Large scale tournaments are already taking place at major venues like the Staples Center in Los Angeles, but these venues aren’t built from the ground up for eSports viewing. While team-specific venues may never be necessary for individual eSports teams, there is immense opportunity to rethink the traditional stadium experience.
The first <a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/E-sports-video-game-arena-coming-to-Oakland-s-9135334.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eSports arena in Oakland is scheduled to open in Spring 2017</a>, and will be the first of eight stadiums to be built around the world. Building on this model, we will see an opportunity for brands to cast their name into the world of eSports through partnerships and co-branding, much like modern traditional sports stadiums today. But eSports has a unique advantage over the traditional stadium experience as it is grounded in technology. New forms of communication or viewership naturally align with the eSports fan experience. For example, while the options VR can provide for new viewing angles at a traditional sports stadium are limited (the view would need to be on the field or attached to a player), VR could provide an entirely new way to watch eSports. Viewers could sit in a virtual stadium and see completely different angles of the games they are so used to watching in two-dimensions.
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<h3>Opportunity 2: Create a New Frontier for Fans</h3>
The eSports ecosystem is comprised of a number of franchises that currently pull in millions of dollars a year. That number is likely to grow even faster as eSport teams become part of a larger fanbase. Today, both new and old franchises have received ongoing investment from or have been acquired by venture capitalist firms, ex-professional sports players, and even traditional professional sports teams. This trend has emerged because it is strategic: the possibility of owning a popular and successful franchise in eSports comes with the chance to build a lucrative brand over multiple eSports, versus just one team like in traditional sports.
This is a highly attractive investment for traditional sports teams, as an already established fan base could expand into a range of budding eSports. For example, the Philadelphia 76ers recently bought <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2016/09/26/philadelphia-76ers-buys-into-the-business-of-esports/#4e6467704ad8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Team Apex</a>, a successful League of Legends team, and could expand beyond Massive Online Battle Arenas (MOBA’s), which is where League of Legends resides, into other categories like First Person Shooters (FPS’), Strategy, and Fighters. As the eSports industry continues to develop and the teams within them grow their fan base, we will see a switch from entirely vertical team fandom (one sport, one team) to horizontal fandom (many sports, one team).
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<h3>Opportunity 3: Remove Broadcasting Barriers</h3>
A major contributor to the growth of eSports has been players’ and teams’ ability to live-stream their gameplay through online platforms like Twitch, a movement that will likely become the “standard” overtime. In eSports, streaming has led to a surge of celebrity players and individual broadcasters, and only recently have platforms themselves become streamers of major eSports events through partnerships, with TBS even streaming <a href="http://www.eleague.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ELeague</a>, a professional league for the popular game Counter Strike, on live television.
As traditional sports become more democratized, with content shifting from major broadcasting networks to online streaming, and social media platforms like Twitter buying the rights to NFL Thursday Night Football, the two worlds will undoubtedly meet in the middle, leading to platforms that can become a sandbox for free, “all-sports” broadcasting. This in turn will create a massive opportunity for individuals and organizations to generate their own personal sports content – from providing unique angles (like Snapchat) to personalized commentary (like YouTube) for anyone to consume.
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<h3>Opportunity 4: Take eSports to the Streets</h3>
While there are a multitude of online platforms where gamers can both casually and competitively play, these haven’t yet been organized into a structure similar to what we see in traditional sports. In leagues like the MLB or Premier Soccer, players are able to participate in structured minor league teams, and in time work their way up the ladder to the top tier. In eSports, major and minor leagues specific to each game don’t exist yet. As of now, there are many third party platforms (like MLG and ELeague) that span many games and many skill levels; in due time these platforms will fade as games like League of Legends continue to own and promote their own competitive league.
For these third party platforms, there is actually a major opportunity that few are capitalizing on. Hint: it isn’t online. In the way that basketball has intramural leagues through which casual players can compete in person, eSports needs its version of a physical place where gamers can congregate and play competitively. On the west coast, the <a href="http://esportsarena.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eSports Arena in Orange County</a> has spearheaded this concept, providing a subscription-based video game agora for the casual gamer. As this concept begins to rise in popularity, we will undoubtedly see various “training grounds” defined by equipment quality, amenities, and skill level.
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<h3>Opportunity 5: Merchandise Through Personalization</h3>
Merchandising is a major part of sporting fandom, as it provides an outlet for fans to show the world that they are part of something larger than themselves – a community of likeminded, passionate individuals. While community is the driver of merchandise in traditional sports, the market for eSports merchandise, which is primarily virtual, revolves entirely around individual expression. Gamers purchase armor and weapon skins, character upgrades, and special attire to transform their character into the ideal online representation of themselves. This level of self-expression is an aspect of the eSports market (and video game market in general) that hasn’t been fully exploited. For traditional sports, a custom jersey is about the highest level of personalization possible, ultimately depicting an aspiration or idolization. eSports, however, can provide physical offerings of items that gamers consider to be integral to who they actually are in the virtual world. This, in turn, would allow video game merchandising sales to break into the physical market beyond simple fan gear, and create an entire market based off the idealized self.
Video gaming has forever been a cult culture filled with stigmas of basements lit up by TVs, greasy controllers, and a perceived waste of time. Today, this view is shifting. With the general acceptance of screens and technology, video games have become an accepted form of education, hand-eye coordination and motor skill improvement, relaxation, and now a professional career. This budding industry is not, however, exclusive to those who perform. As eSports continues to grow, the infrastructure and ecosystem around it will flourish, providing an abundance of opportunities for those in, on the fringe, or outside eSports to create points of differentiation through innovation.

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