Artificial intelligence, augmented reality: A number of things are impacting sports these days. Technology is the in thing and it is considered to be indispensable. This session of the Tata Steel Trailblazers sports conclave organised by RevSportz was about Technology in Sport.
The speakers were India’s chief badminton coach PullelaGopichand, long jump world championship bronze medallist Anju Bobby George, squash star Saurav Ghoshal, shooter and shooting coach Joydeep Karmakar and Divyajot Ahluwalia, the director of WT Vision.
“AI is the buzzword,” said Ahluwalia. “Augmented reality is well accepted in sports. It enhances capability. A lot of investment has been made into it and it’s working well. Certainly, there is a matter of how to use it, but it is there to help performance. Players get better using it. It will be heard of more in the coming days.”
Gopichand was more cautious. He said that it depends on how technology is used. “Technology is there for us to scale things, notice things that are not visible to the naked eye. For a topplayer, it is important. But it may not be as important at the grassroots. We need to understand how much of it is needed and where. Human element is still the art in coaching.”
Anju called for equal access when it comes to the use of technology. “During nurturing an athlete, we need the right things. We need technology to know what is lacking. A lot of things have changed of late. My point is, it should be accessible to all. We should not get to a situation where a certain section has access to technology and others don’t. It should be equal for everybody.”
Karmakar also spoke about the importance of using technology in a proper manner. “What is technology? It’s basically access to data. It’ a boon when it comes to measuring drawbacks and strengths. It’s a good thing when it comes to training and preparation. But, technology and access to it should go hand in hand.”
Ghoshal said technology should be used at a higher level only. “It scans thousands of games and gives us the pattern. We can study and understand how our opponents play. It helps us prepare. That is the value technology adds. But at the end of the day, it’s data. It’s up to you how you use it.”