The 5th Asia-Pacific Congress on Sports Technology was recently held in Melbourne (for a second time). Almost 100 people from around the world turned up for the congress which took place in the Storey Hall - RMIT's premium exhibition and auditorium facility. The attendees include academics from various universities, scientists and researchers from sport institutes, engineers of various disciplines from organisations of technology and innovations, and representatives of sporting goods companies.
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| Keynote speakers |
The first two days of the congress was packed with keynote speeches and presentations discussing the impact of technology on sports. Sessions were organised either according to the type of sport (winter sports, swimming, ball sports, cycling, track & field), engineering methods (design & analysis, modelling & simulation, aerodynamics), sports wear (garments & footwear) and the most popular topic in this congress which is sensors & measurement methods. Use of inertial sensors and the application of smart phones in various sports covered more than half the presentations under the category of sensors & measurement methods. I too, had the opportunity to present a paper on the use of inertial sensors and smart phones in wheelchair sports.
Obviously the potential of wearable technologies or wireless technologies in sports is huge, which is why more and more people are getting into the research and development of this area. One of the reasons for this is it's increase in demand. It probably started with the sports institutes where coaches and sports scientists recognised the advantage & benefits of tracking and measuring their athletes' movement and performance not just in the lab, but in the field during training or during actual competitions. It then trickled down to the professional team sports that has the funding to use inertial sensor technologies. Then what more, with smart phones such as iPhones and Android phones that are built with inertial sensors and a-GPS, and SDKs that allow almost anyone (with the interest and programming knowledge) to develop customised Apps for sports applications. There are Apps that simply use location data to track running or cycling routes, giving the user information on their speed, distance and elevation. There is an iPhone App for rowing and there are iPhone Apps that simply gives you access to the accelerometer and gyroscope data (which I used extensively for my research). Anyway, my point is that more people can have access to wearable technologies with the development of smart phones, and thus the growing interest.
I actually came across this blogpost that criticised the conference and the purpose of research in sports technology. The writer had the mindset that research in sports garments for improved performance (reduced drag) or analysing the aerodynamics of balls (golf & soccer) or instrumenting sports equipment for performance analysis is a total waste of time. That seems to be a very narrow-minded view of sports engineering. Objectively speaking, many new technologies that are developed from sports engineering research, whether in universities or research institutes are often adopted later on by other industries either in healthcare, manufacturing, construction and even aerospace engineering; and vice versa. The innovations developed may not have an immediate impact but it often brings people to a new level of understanding of the possibilities of such innovations. Also, who can deny that controversies in sports science and technologies make interesting discussion topics? Here's one for example.
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| Louise Sauvage showing us one of her racing chairs |
But back to the conference itself; other than the many thought provoking discussions related to sports technologies, a highlight of the conference is the social events. On the second night, there was the dinner at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that was combined with a tour of the National Sports Museum. Louise Sauvage was a special guest for the dinner and she gave a special closing speech to mark the end of the conference. She shared about her journey as a disabled athlete, the different struggles she went through and some of the experiences she had that were truly epic. It was the perfect closing speech for a sports technology conference; because not only is she an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racer who has won numerous gold medals (Paralympic games, Olympic games and international athletic championships), she experienced first hand the impact of technology in the improvements of her racing wheelchairs. But even though technology had a bit to play in her success, I would say the major contributing factor is her discipline in training and determination to succeed. A truly charismatic and inspiring person; I am sure she has been a huge inspiration to many Paralympians in Australia and I am pretty sure she inspired many engineers and scientists that night during the dinner.
Industry tours: There were some industry tours on the third day at different locations including the Kookaburra Sport manufacturing facility, Sports Technology International - a sports surface manufacturer, and the Victorian Institute of Sport combined with a sports science presentation from Catapult Sports. There are several more sports technology companies based in Melbourne that I have come to know since I started my post-graduate studies in sports engineering. Then there are at least 2 universities with sports engineering programs (Victoria Uni & RMIT); which really makes Melbourne a sort of hub for sports technology developments, and I am pretty glad to be a part of it. :)
