Visitors to the Paris Olympics are trialling a new artificial intelligence-based system designed to spot sporting talent and predict future gold medalists.
The company that developed this system wants its portable version to enable the use of advanced technologies in sports in remote parts of the world where this is not currently possible.
While Takto runs like crazy between the infrared sensors, nearby his younger brother Tomo is sprinting on a short track, and his movements are followed by a series of cameras
The brothers, a seven-year-old and a four-year-old, from Yokohama, Japan, are taking part in a series of tests based on artificial intelligence that are carried out in a specially designated area near the Olympic Stadium in Paris.
The goal of the system is to discover possible gold medal winners in the future.
Data is collected in five sports abilities, including running and jumping and hand grip measurement.
This data is then analyzed to assess strength, explosiveness, endurance, reaction time, resilience, and agility.
These data are compared with the values of professional athletes and Olympians.
"We use computer vision and historical data," says Sarah Vickers, head of the Olympic and Paralympic program developed by computer component maker Intel.
"This enables the average person to be compared with top athletes and to determine which sport suits them best according to their physical abilities."
After the test, each participant is told which of the ten sports suits him best.
Intel says that after testing ends, all data collected about participants is deleted.
Besides the technology, the brothers had fun during the testing.
"I enjoyed it," says Takto.
"I liked it the most when they measured our sprint".
Portable artificial intelligence
This AI system available to visitors to the Paris Games has a much smaller, portable version that can be used on most devices that have a camera and some computing power.
"If you have a mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer, you can apply this technology in places where it was not possible before," says Sara.
This artificial intelligence technology assesses physical abilities only by analyzing camera footage and does not require physical sensors.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently took the system to Senegal, where it visited five different villages and assessed the sporting potential of more than a thousand children.
In partnership with the Olympic Committee of Senegal, and after the next round of more advanced tests, 48 children were found to have "tremendous potential", and one "exceptional potential".
They are offered to participate in sports programs and see how much they can develop their sports abilities.
The company that developed this system hopes that it will be used to provide opportunities for young people in areas where it is impossible to deliver more bulky testing devices.
Professor John Brewer, a visiting lecturer at the University of Suffolk, in the American state of Massachusetts, who has worked with the Football Association of England to identify talent, says that recognizing potential at an early age is the "Holy Grail" of sports.
However, he adds that the basic system that measures only a few physical abilities has limitations regarding sports that require technique, such as football and basketball, and those that require endurance.
"If you want to win a marathon or a 10.000-meter race, you have to have aerobic capacity, the ability to accept, transport and use oxygen, which cannot be seen on any video," he says.
Professor Bruer believes that this system is good for initial assessments of potential athletes.
"If it reveals skill and agility that indicate possible talent for a particular sport, then its use should be supported," he says.
"And if it's something portable that can be brought to areas where there's not necessarily access to high-tech assessment methods, then that's just a useful thing."
"But it will certainly only be part of a much more comprehensive talent discovery system."
Final results
At the Olympic Stadium, young Takto got results, according to which he could be a sprinter.
He is delighted, although he says that at the moment he prefers football and tennis.
Two of the more experienced athletes, Brok and Henk, swam for their colleges in student competitions in the USA.
Athletes prepare for this level of competition in top centers, and many have become Olympians.
"We are former athletes and have a strong competitive spirit, so we thought this test would be fun," says Henk.
"This technology did not exist when we were swimming 10, 15 years ago," adds Brok.
And what are the results, which sport suits them best?
"Rugby," says Henk.
"Basketball for me, and I've literally never played basketball in my life," says Brok
"Well, he played with me once and we never let him again," adds Henk.
It seems that even with the help of artificial intelligence, computers sometimes make mistakes.
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