Innovation in Sports Technology

The future of entertainment isn't on Netflix. It's unfolding on stage. Have you seen this show yet? I just watched a Japanese theater performance where The Mask faced Vegeta—and for a moment, I genuinely questioned whether I was watching a live show or a Hollywood blockbuster. The surprising part? It wasn't just AI. It was the convergence of multiple breakthrough technologies working together: ✅ AI-assisted content creation ✅ Projection mapping ✅ Real-time motion tracking ✅ LED virtual environments ✅ Intelligent lighting systems ✅ Robotics and automation ✅ Computer vision ✅ Real-time rendering engines like Unreal Engine The result is a new generation of live entertainment where digital effects respond to actors in real time, making the impossible feel real. And this is only the beginning. The numbers tell the story: + The global projection mapping market is expected to grow from around $6 billion in 2026 to nearly $14 billion by 2034, driven by demand for immersive experiences in entertainment, events, and tourism. + AI is already becoming part of the creative workflow. Industry surveys indicate 35% of artists now use AI to generate stage visuals and projections, while 65% of Broadway set designers report using AI to accelerate 3D design and visualization. What's fascinating is that AI isn't replacing performers. It's making human performance even more spectacular. Actors still deliver the emotion. Stunt performers still execute impossible choreography. Musicians still perform live. Technology simply removes creative limitations. We've already seen companies like Cirque du Soleil combine high-lumen laser projection, real-time tracking cameras, and infrared sensors to transform entire theaters into living digital environments that react dynamically to performers. This convergence is also blurring the boundaries between industries. The next generation of theater will increasingly resemble: Hollywood visual effects Video game engines Extended Reality (XR) Artificial Intelligence Live human performance As AI, robotics, spatial computing, and real-time graphics continue to mature, audiences won't just watch a performance—they'll step inside it. The biggest innovation may not be replacing actors with AI. It will be making every live performance feel like you're standing inside your favorite movie or video game. The future of entertainment won't be defined by screens. It will be defined by experiences that make us forget the screen ever existed. #AI #Innovation via @_aiartrsmy #Technology #Theater #Entertainment #ProjectionMapping #SpatialComputing #Robotics #XR #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfEntertainment #CreativeAI

Blind football fans now feel the game through their fingertips. For free. While stadiums charge £50 for tickets, they're giving these devices away. Mike Kearney couldn't see Liverpool score. His cousin traced the ball's path on his hand. 90,000 fans roared around them while Mike experienced football through human touch. Think about that. Three Dublin students watched that viral moment. Tim Farrelly, David Deneher, and Omar Salem saw Mike celebrating Salah's goal and thought: No blind fan should need a human scoreboard. Traditional Stadium Experience: ↳ Audio commentary only ↳ Delayed radio broadcasts ↳ Depends on sighted companion ↳ Miss the game's flow entirely Field of Vision Reality: ↳ Tactile pitch in your hands ↳ Magnetic ball tracks real gameplay ↳ Instant vibrations for goals, fouls ↳ Feel the match as it happens But here's what stopped me cold: They didn't just build the technology. They built a model where blind fans never pay. Stadiums invest $50,000 for 12 devices per season. Sponsors cover the costs. Every visually impaired fan gets one free. The device fits in your palm. Raised pitch boundaries guide your fingers. The magnetic ball moves exactly where Haaland or Salah strike. When the crowd erupts, you know why. When play builds, you feel it building. Testing from FIFA to Premier League proved what matters: ↳ Touch2See at MLS matches—free ↳ Telstra Touch in Australia—free ↳ Every major deployment—free ↳ Accessibility without barriers The Multiplication Effect: 1 stadium equipped = hundreds included free 10 leagues adopting = thousands connected 100 sponsors investing = new standard emerges At scale = no blind fan pays to feel the game From Reddit video to global stadiums. From three students sketching to clubs investing $50,000 per season. From "who pays?" to "nobody pays." Traditional accessibility adds costs. Field of Vision removes them. We spent decades pricing out disabled fans. Three students made inclusion free. Because Mike Kearney's joy shouldn't depend on his cousin's hand—or his wallet. Follow me, Dr. Martha Boeckenfeld for innovations that refuse to leave anyone on the sidelines. ♻️ Share if accessibility should never cost extra. Video: Social Media

Here’s my major prediction for the professional sports industry next year.   By the end of 2026, artificial intelligence will no longer be a fringe experiment in sports – it will be a foundational layer powering the industry’s growth, on and off the field. Any organization still relying on gut feel, spreadsheets, and siloed data will be structurally behind in both revenue and relevance.   It’s not just about performance. The integration of AI is reshaping every part of the sports business — from fan engagement and ticketing to media, commercial operations and player health. This is key to unlocking a new era of scalable value creation, sustaining the growth we’ve seen in recent decades.   AI is already bending the curve, and the growth potential looks a lot like a hockey stick:   💲 Spend is exploding: The global “AI in sports” market, estimated at nearly $9B in 2024, is forecast to reach $28B by 2030, a 21%+ CAGR. That’s not a side bet; it’s a signal of where leaders and operators see future value.   ⚕️ Performance & health are moving first: Teams working with specialized platforms have reported material outcomes. One AI system forecasts ~75% of potential athlete injury risks inside a seven-day window. Another is helping Major League Soccer teams cut total injuries by ~28% and reduce the salary paid to unavailable players by ~30% (equating to millions of dollars a season). Those are direct P&L and asset-protection gains, not just “innovation theatre”.   📣 Fan experience is being rewired in real time: The NBA’s work with Microsoft and AWS, for example, is pushing AI into games broadcasts: instant narrative-building, multilingual recaps, “Inside the Game” analytics feeds, and new experiences across apps, social media and even inside the stadium/arena. Formula 1 is also turning 1.1 million data points per second per car into predictive race insights and storytelling for a global audience.   By 2026, the true outliers won’t be the AI pioneers, they’ll be the organizations that failed to adapt. Here’s what’s becoming table stakes:   – A robust AI layer across ticketing, pricing, media, sponsorship, and performance – A single, integrated data spine replacing fragmented systems – The skills, talent, and culture to deploy AI tools with the same fluency as playbooks and scouting reports   The road to AI-based optimization won’t be clean. There will be bad models, governance clashes, and cultural pushbacks. But positive transformation never happens in straight lines. It requires bold experimentation. The difference now is that AI’s upside can be quantified in revenue growth, commercial yield and fan lifetime value.   As AI capabilities are adapted across the sports value chain, the industry’s ability to continue growing its overall value could accelerate dramatically.   #BigIdeas2026 – here on LinkedIn.

I’m genuinely excited about the potential of AI to support sports science and rehabilitation, not because it can replace clinician or practitioner judgement, but because it can reduce some of the time-consuming work that sits around it. Reviewing the literature and existing frameworks, pulling together an athlete’s historic data, translating that into return-to-play targets, structuring a rehabilitation plan, and then compiling the latest information into an update for coaches or other key stakeholders can take a considerable amount of time. That is where I think AI can be especially useful. In my latest video with Action Apps, I demonstrate their new AI-assisted rehabilitation planning feature using a grade 2 hamstring injury as an example. The platform helps generate an evidence-informed plan with return-to-play targets, phased interventions, exit criteria, monitoring assessments and progress visualisation. The supporting evidence is referenced, and every part of the plan can be reviewed, edited and adapted by the practitioner. That last point is important. Rehabilitation is complex, individual and rarely linear, so the final decisions still sit with the practitioner. For me, the value is in using AI to organise and communicate the information more efficiently, giving practitioners more time to focus on interpretation, adaptation and the athlete in front of them. Watch the demonstration in full on the Global Performance Insights YouTube channel, here: https://lnkd.in/efxk4g3K

This week's defining shift for me is that motion data is shifting from something systems measure to something they use to guide action. Instead of treating movement as a record to analyze after the fact, more platforms are turning perceptual motion data into live input for coaching, control, and interaction. This is not about better measurement. It is about using motion data to drive decisions and feedback in real time. This week’s news surfaced signals like these: ⛷️ U.S. Ski & Snowboard and Google Cloud are testing smartphone-based, markerless motion analysis to turn ordinary video into near real-time coaching guidance for elite athletes. 🤚 Meta and the University of Utah are studying how surface EMG can translate muscle signals into usable gesture control, including for people with limited hand mobility. Why this matters: This is the difference between watching a replay and having something help you in the moment. Instead of looking at motion after it happens, these systems are starting to use it while you’re still moving, to help decide what comes next. #physicalAI #perceptionsystems #motion #motioncapture #data #sports

As a lifelong Detroit Lions fan, I know that grit, determination, and strategy are non-negotiables for success—both on and off the field (trust me, being a Lions fan takes serious heart!).   But in today’s game, it’s not just about talent and hustle anymore. AI is becoming the secret weapon for professional sports, changing the way teams prepare, play, and win. With the big game around the corner, here’s how AI is transforming football: • Game Strategy & Predictive Analytics: AI analyzes opponent tendencies and simulates thousands of potential plays. Imagine the Lions using AI to spot defensive gaps and exploit them in real-time—talk about next-level strategy! • Player Performance & Injury Prevention: AI-powered wearables track fatigue and movement patterns to help prevent injuries and maximize endurance—something every team can benefit from. • Scouting & Draft Strategy: AI processes massive amounts of player data to uncover hidden gems, ensuring smarter draft picks and better team-building decisions.   Just like football teams, businesses can use AI to make data-driven decisions, adapt to changing conditions, and stay ahead of the competition. The playbook might look different, but the principles are the same: analyze, adapt, and execute.   As the Lions continue to make waves and redefine their legacy (I can feel it—next year is THE year!), it’s exciting to think about how technology could further fuel their success. AI may never replace heart and hustle, but it’s changing the game in ways we never imagined. Whether it’s football or business, staying ahead means embracing innovation—and I’m here for it. 

In a groundbreaking move towards inclusivity, the Portland Trail Blazers have introduced haptic display technology at every home game, enabling blind and low-vision fans to experience basketball through touch. Developed by Seattle-based startup OneCourt, this innovative device translates live gameplay into trackable vibrations, allowing fans to follow the action with their fingertips. This service is available at no additional cost at the Moda Center, underscoring the Blazers' commitment to making live sports accessible to all. The implementation of this technology has transformed the game-day experience for many. Leigh Ramsey, a parent of a OneCourt user, shared, "We attempted a game last summer and the frustration and heartache the whole family felt as we realized this might be our last live sporting event together was gut-wrenching. This was amazing—inclusive, integrated, and not attention-drawing." Such testimonials highlight the profound impact of making sports venues more accommodating, fostering a sense of belonging among all fans. By pioneering the use of haptic feedback devices, the Trail Blazers are setting a precedent in the sports industry, demonstrating that accessibility and innovation can go hand in hand. This initiative not only enhances the live experience for blind and low-vision fans but also serves as a call to action for other organizations to prioritize inclusivity. As more teams adopt similar technologies, the joy and excitement of live sports will become a shared experience, truly accessible to everyone. Alt: Kgw.com published article on the innovation showing a video of a blind user of the built device using hands to touch the device for real-time game experience. #AccessibilityTriumphThursday #InclusiveSports #AccessibilityMatters #HapticTechnology #TrailBlazers #Accessibility #Inclusion #Disability #Diversity https://lnkd.in/guQiUBah

🏃♂️ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 “𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞” 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 🏋️♀️ When people hear “sport science,” they often imagine fancy gadgets, heart-rate monitors, or lab tests. But at the elite level, sport science is so much more than data. It’s about translating science into performance. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞: 1️⃣𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. Two athletes may run the same 100m time, but their training, recovery, and nutrition strategies can be completely different. Sport science helps tailor every detail to the individual. 2️⃣𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭. Metrics mean nothing without interpretation. GPS, force plates, and blood biomarkers are tools, not answers. The value comes from connecting them to an athlete’s goals, fatigue levels, and competition schedule. 3️⃣𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭. Sometimes, a 0.2% improvement in sprint efficiency or sleep quality is the difference between a podium finish and heartbreak. Sport science is about finding those tiny, actionable edges. 4️⃣𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞. Technology guides decisions, but relationships, trust, and communication with coaches and athletes drive implementation. Without that, the science stays on paper. 💡At its core, sport science is a bridge: from research and evidence → to athlete action → to results on the field. It’s rigorous, precise, and deeply human. #SportScience #EliteSport #Performance #Data #Sport

Realtime Fan Engagement with NASCAR and Ably My journey in sports technology began with Formula One in the pre-internet era, when race car data was just beginning to shape the sport. What we considered cutting-edge telemetry then would barely register compared to today's standards, where a single NASCAR race generates over a terabyte of data from cars emitting 100+ data points 120 times every second. That's why NASCAR's collaboration with Ably brings my career full circle. What excites me most is seeing how far we've come - from struggling to capture basic telemetry to now delivering real-time, engaging experiences to fans worldwide. It's a perfect example of how sports technology can turn complex technical challenges into seamless fan experiences. I'm grateful to Matthew O'Riordan and the Ably team for letting me be part of this journey back to my racing roots. 1️⃣ Data At Racing Speed One terabyte of data per race transformed into real-time fan experiences, proving massive data can be managed at NASCAR speeds. 2️⃣ Smart Data Filtering NASCAR's success comes from intelligent data reduction - from 120 updates per second to just 2 - keeping the fan experience smooth and efficient. 3️⃣ Second Screen Evolution Drive platform turns raw racing data into a personalized viewing experience, letting fans follow their favorite drivers throughout the race. 4️⃣ Infrastructure Freedom Switching to Ably freed NASCAR's team from managing servers, letting them focus on innovation instead of infrastructure. 5️⃣ Authentic Connection By sharing the same data feed used by race teams, NASCAR creates a genuine connection between fans and the sport they love. #realtime #sportstech #scale

Ever thought of getting the Rolland Garros feel without flying all the way to Paris? I'm not talking VR or AR here. But about a collaboration between Fancode and SonyLIV at the recent French Open. To provide fans with an immersive, digital experience of the event. Gone are the days when live sport meant one camera angle and one commentary. Today fans pinch-zoom, pick their commentator, and vote on polls while the ball is still in the air. SonyLIV brought in the high-quality live coverage of each match. FanCode integrated its interactive technology directly within the SonyLIV platform. So that viewers could now select camera angles, review serve speeds, change commentary languages, and participate in real-time polls. All this without leaving the stream or downloading a separate application. For the viewers, the end result was a seamless, single-screen experience and unprecedented control over how they consumed the event. Here's why it matters: 👉🏼 Viewers stay 25 % longer when they can play along. 👉🏼 Advertisers pay more for clicks than eyeballs. Interactive streams deliver both. 👉🏼 Regional language toggles pull Tier-2 fans who once skipped pay-TV. 👉🏼 The same tech stacks can power cricket, kabaddi, even cooking shows next. A few takeaways for you as a business leader: 🎾 1. Put customers in the driver’s seat. Whether it’s camera angles or checkout steps, the more control they have, the longer they stay. 🎾 2. Borrow strength through partnerships. Don’t reinvent tech. Instead, team up with specialists who are already into it. 🎾 3. Personalise at a fast click. Language toggles, custom views, tailored offers - whatever suits your business. People stick around when the product adapts to them instantly. 🎾 4. Measure interaction, not just attention. Clicks, polls, shares and toggles reveal true engagement. Raw eyeballs are yesterday’s vanity metric. 🎾 5. Prototype fast and iterate faster. Start with small interactive experiments. Then rapid tweaks. Which of these five would you bring into your business? P.S. Every week, I bring to you a #cx trend from India. Repost if this was useful. ♻️ #customerexperience #customercentricity #india