The 2020 Tokyo Robot Project is committed to making this the year of the robot Olympics, starting with the robot mascot, Miraitowa. Originally reserved for spectator interactions, the focus of Miraitowa has shifted to both entertainment and usefulness with the Games themselves. Miraitowa has cameras on its head so that it can recognize nearby people and then read facial reactions. Its facial expressions can change, as well as body parts that can smoothly wave or shake hands. See the history of mascots at the Olympic Games.
A video clip from halftime of the USA-France men’s basketball game went viral (currently at 4.8M+ views on Twitter) after Toyota’s 6-foot-10-inch basketball robot, CUE, drained a nothing-but-net three-pointer, only then to proceed and make a half-court shot (approximately 47 feet). CUE uses artificial intelligence and sensors to evaluate distance, angles, conditions, mechanics and past results to produce the most accurate sharpshooter in the world (sorry, Steph Curry). CUE currently holds the Guinness World Record for “most consecutive basketball free throws made by a humanoid robot” at 2,020 consecutive free throws.
CUE may be an early frontrunner to be the fan-favorite robot, but other robots will be competing to steal the crown. To help reduce the number of volunteers and staff members on-site, robots will be used for many delivery (Delivery Support Robots, or DSR) and retrieval (Field Support Robots, or FSR) tasks, including the rugby ball delivery “Tiny Bus”. In addition, retrieval bots will be used during track and field throwing events such as javelin, discus, hammer throw and shot put.
Gold: Bringing the Olympics to Remote Fans Across the Globe
With no fans, spectators or family and friends of any kind allowed in this year’s Games, there hasn’t been a more critical global event to seamlessly bring the action into people’s homes. NBC, the primary broadcast network for the Olympics in the United States, in partnership with the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) have decades of Olympics coverage experience to back its ability to cover the Games, but never has it been this logistically challenging, with many of the control rooms off-site in Stamford, Conn. and New York City.
All the while, there is a major technical upgrade happening. After 15 years, NBC is moving from an SDI router to an IP router to better support the needs of HDR 4K ultra high-def coverage. With this upgrade also comes 5.1.4 immersive audio for at-home fans to get the most realistic acoustic experience possible.