Younger fans are leaving stadiums when they can't get connected, so sports teams are finally embracing technology as a way to improve the fan experience and increase the team's bottom line.
Imagine walking into a stadium and your smartphone immediately pings you that a $30 premium seat upgrade is available for purchase on your mobile device. As soon as you settle in to enjoy that awesome view of the game, you use your smartphone to order a pulled pork sandwich and imported beer delivered right to your seat. Then, when your favorite player scores a touchdown, you use the team's app to watch an instant replay at multiple angles and a stadium-exclusive video feed of the players on the sideline. Later on, when nature calls, the app directs you to the closest restroom with no wait time.
This isn't a far-fetched futuristic stadium experience. It's already available at some venues, and others are rushing as fast as they can to add next generation digital systems that will make attending a game in person an immersive, connected experience.
There are three reasons that stadiums are pushing to improve connectivity:
1. Changing demographics
2. Luring fans away from their big-screen TV at home
3. Boosting revenues
Whether by building from scratch or retrofitting existing facilities, stadiums are in a fierce competition with each other to add the latest technologies.
Read the feature story
Showing posts with label games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label games. Show all posts
Thursday, 11 February 2016
Super Bowl 50 smashes data records with 10.1TB flying across Wi-Fi
Super Bowl 50 set records, as predicted, and not just of the Peyton Manning variety. It was a record-breaking day because 10.1 terabytes of data was transferred over the Wi-Fi network at Levi's Stadium on game day, according to the NFL. That's the equivalent of 6,000-plus hours of HD video or almost 1.2 million 2MB images.
This was a 63% increase compared to the 6.23 terabytes of data usage at last year's Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz., as previously reported in TechRepublic's article, Super Bowl 50 to showcase tons of new tech, shatter bandwidth records.
By halftime, the showdown between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. had already surpassed the previous record for data transferred at any sporting event. As a result, this means that Super Bowl 50 achieved levels of network performance and data usage never seen before at a single sports and entertainment event, according to the NFL. The data figures were compiled from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific Time on February 7.
"The performance of Levi's Stadium's connectivity was nothing short of amazing," said Michelle McKenna-Doyle, CIO for the NFL, in a press release. "It blew away all our previous records and provided strong consistent connectivity for our fans to share their memories. We were very pleased."
The high tech stadium opened in July 2014 and features 400 miles of data cable, more than 12,000 physical network ports, more than 1,200 Wi-Fi access points, approximately 1,200 Bluetooth beacons, and a backbone of 40 Gbps of available internet bandwidth.
Read the full article
This was a 63% increase compared to the 6.23 terabytes of data usage at last year's Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz., as previously reported in TechRepublic's article, Super Bowl 50 to showcase tons of new tech, shatter bandwidth records.
By halftime, the showdown between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. had already surpassed the previous record for data transferred at any sporting event. As a result, this means that Super Bowl 50 achieved levels of network performance and data usage never seen before at a single sports and entertainment event, according to the NFL. The data figures were compiled from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific Time on February 7.
"The performance of Levi's Stadium's connectivity was nothing short of amazing," said Michelle McKenna-Doyle, CIO for the NFL, in a press release. "It blew away all our previous records and provided strong consistent connectivity for our fans to share their memories. We were very pleased."
The high tech stadium opened in July 2014 and features 400 miles of data cable, more than 12,000 physical network ports, more than 1,200 Wi-Fi access points, approximately 1,200 Bluetooth beacons, and a backbone of 40 Gbps of available internet bandwidth.
Read the full article
Sunday, 7 February 2016
Google AI algorithm masters ancient game of Go
Deep-learning software defeats human professional for first time.
A computer has beaten a human professional for the first time at Go — an ancient board game that has long been viewed as one of the greatest challenges for artificial intelligence (AI).
The best human players of chess, draughts and backgammon have all been outplayed by computers. But a hefty handicap was needed for computers to win at Go. Now Google’s London-based AI company, DeepMind, claims that its machine has mastered the game.
DeepMind’s program AlphaGo beat Fan Hui, the European Go champion, five times out of five in tournament conditions, the firm reveals in research published in Nature on 27 January1. It also defeated its silicon-based rivals, winning 99.8% of games against the current best programs. The program has yet to play the Go equivalent of a world champion, but a match against South Korean professional Lee Sedol, considered by many to be the world’s strongest player, is scheduled for March. “We’re pretty confident,” says DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis.
“This is a really big result, it’s huge,” says Rémi Coulom, a programmer in Lille, France, who designed a commercial Go program called Crazy Stone. He had thought computer mastery of the game was a decade away.
The IBM chess computer Deep Blue, which famously beat grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997, was explicitly programmed to win at the game. But AlphaGo was not preprogrammed to play Go: rather, it learned using a general-purpose algorithm that allowed it to interpret the game’s patterns, in a similar way to how a DeepMind program learned to play 49 different arcade games.
Read the news article
A computer has beaten a human professional for the first time at Go — an ancient board game that has long been viewed as one of the greatest challenges for artificial intelligence (AI).
The best human players of chess, draughts and backgammon have all been outplayed by computers. But a hefty handicap was needed for computers to win at Go. Now Google’s London-based AI company, DeepMind, claims that its machine has mastered the game.
DeepMind’s program AlphaGo beat Fan Hui, the European Go champion, five times out of five in tournament conditions, the firm reveals in research published in Nature on 27 January1. It also defeated its silicon-based rivals, winning 99.8% of games against the current best programs. The program has yet to play the Go equivalent of a world champion, but a match against South Korean professional Lee Sedol, considered by many to be the world’s strongest player, is scheduled for March. “We’re pretty confident,” says DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis.
“This is a really big result, it’s huge,” says Rémi Coulom, a programmer in Lille, France, who designed a commercial Go program called Crazy Stone. He had thought computer mastery of the game was a decade away.
The IBM chess computer Deep Blue, which famously beat grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997, was explicitly programmed to win at the game. But AlphaGo was not preprogrammed to play Go: rather, it learned using a general-purpose algorithm that allowed it to interpret the game’s patterns, in a similar way to how a DeepMind program learned to play 49 different arcade games.
Read the news article
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Microsoft Turns a Minecraft Mod Into an Education Business
Teachers in thousands of schools in dozens of countries use the video game Minecraft to teach subjects from math to English to computer programming through MinecraftEdu. They use a modified version of the game first made in 2011 by an independent group of teachers and computer programmers. Microsoft is validating their work by turning MinecraftEdu into the centerpiece of its own business plans for Minecraft as an educational tool. But MinecraftEdu's creators aren't coming along for the ride.
Now Microsoft is buying the MinecraftEdu franchise.
Microsoft is as excited as the other giants of the technology industry to gain a foothold in schools. Since Minecraft is that rare product considered both potentially educational and fun, the company sees a big opportunity here.
Read the post
Now Microsoft is buying the MinecraftEdu franchise.
Microsoft is as excited as the other giants of the technology industry to gain a foothold in schools. Since Minecraft is that rare product considered both potentially educational and fun, the company sees a big opportunity here.
Read the post
Monday, 4 March 2013
Virtual learning spaces
Clarify your doubts, view digital dissections, videos of experiments and listen to lectures by experts from around the world on the social media… Learning could be fun this way.
The Internet has thrown open a whole new world of information access and it’s not just the regular educational sites we’re talking about. Even those platforms assumed to be of a frivolous, social nature are now being seen as powerful tools of education. Who would have thought Facebook, Twitter and YouTube would help you score extra in your tests?
“If anything, it (social media) just opens up another channel of communication from students to teachers,” comments a person on a website. Not just a channel but numerous and simultaneous channels that connect you to several material at one shot.
Here’s a look at the social media spaces that are underestimated educational tools. Read the full article
Friday, 14 September 2012
Geeky Google Doodles: PAC-MAN
Geeky Google Doodles: PAC-MAN
Ever since New Year's Day 2000, Google has made itself known for altering its logo in remembrance of a holiday, anniversary, or other special day. In this gallery, one can take a look at 30 of the most memorable, geeky Google Doodles from 2009 and so far.
In what is possibly the most popular Google Doogle ever, Google created a fully functioning PAC-MAN game to replace its logo on May 21, 2010 in celebration of PAC-MAN's 30th anniversary. Google has left a working version for us to play. Simply click "Insert Coin" and you're on your way.
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