A new report on "The Future of Football" predicts the innovative ways in which the world's most popular sport is expected to change thanks to technology over the next 50 years. The study, produced on behalf of HTC, Official Smartphone Supplier of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, outlines 30 ways football could change by 2060, including Android football, data integration in player dependency (even in contact lenses) and the ubiquitous hyper-realistic XNUMXD simulation.
With Smartphones at the heart of the football experience enjoyed by fans today, the report also explores the futuristic potential that fans can expect in terms of enjoying a football match with their mobile wherever they are.
The experience of the fans will change forever
According to the study, prepared by the renowned consultancy company Futurizon futurology, those who will benefit most from the increasing influence and application of technology in football are the fans:
• In 5 years: mobile apps that allow viewers to connect with players and coordinate with other fans to support their heroes, upgrading the football spectacle and bringing the fans closer to teams and players. By incorporating social media and race data in real time, these applications will be the most complete escort in each race.
• In 15 years: tracking the fight from home becomes a much more exciting experience, as insect-like robots and the appearance of players will have built-in cameras for a whole new look of the race
• In 55 years: the technology allows fans to control humanoid robots in full-scale racing and live with all their senses the experience of playing field through advanced virtual reality
Soccer as you have never seen before
Along with improving the experience for the fans, the games themselves will be fully transformed as technology will allow teams and players to make even better use of data to improve their performance:
• In 5 years: generalized integration of ball impact sensors and acceleration counters on soccer shoes will allow precise measurement of the impact ball and footballer that will also benefit referees
• In 20 years: the 'active skin' brings the electronic circuits printed on the players' skin, to connect the nervous system and blood biochemistry to external networks and devices, producing complex resolutions that help players improve their performance quickly
• In 25 years: Active contact lenses will allow referees and supervisors to watch the action from any angle and zoom out at will - perhaps even at 3D
Dr Ian Pearson, the leading designer and author of Futurizon, commented: "Football is a sport that focuses on public participation. Technology has always been used to improve the quality of play and public participation, both on and off the pitch. In the years to come, this will be a rhythm, as the action on the pitch will become more and more of the data, while in the stands and at home the audience's experience will become richer to an unbelievable sense of realism. "
Graham Wheeler, director of product marketing management at HTC, said: “In this report, when we look back at past innovations such as finish line technology, it's clear that technology has a central role in evolving the way we which we live football. Fan-centric innovation is at the core of HTC's partnership with the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League and we look forward to being part of this exciting future.”
HTC has already taken a step towards the future of football with its new HTC FootballFeed app available for free through the Play Store. This application puts the focus on the sports fan and offers official updates λεπτό προς λεπτό από το UEFA Champions League και το UEFA Europa League, απευθείας στο κινητό σου. Όπου κι αν βρίσκεται κανείς – στις κερκίδες, στον καναπέ σου, στο γραφείο ή για βόλτα στην πόλη – το HTC FootballFeed τού προσφέρει ζωντανή ενημέρωση με information and statistics that he can customize as he likes, as well as a wide variety of news and other rich content.
