Sports ·
Smart Glasses & Euro 2020: How Wearable Displays Could Change Future International Competitions
Euro 2024 could offer spectators an improved way to watch games
Perhaps the greatest evidence of life returning to normal: spectators at live events. Sorely missed over the past year, the absence made a particularly large impact on sports enthusiasts the world over.
It’ll be a long time before we once again take watching a game from the stands for granted.
Soccer (or fútbol, depending on your location) is kicking off the almost-post-pandemic festivities with its UEFA Euro tournament taking place throughout the continent. Postponed by a full year, fans are chomping at the bit to cheer on their country’s best players in person.
Since the past year offered mind-blowing technological breakthroughs (vaccines were created and distributed in just 12 months), are we likely to see new innovations improve the spectator experience at major sporting events?
How about hands-free devices that could optimize how you watch matches?
READ: Could Smart Glasses Create Super Coaches?
How Smart Glasses could in-person spectating at Euro 2024:
Who’s that?
Players' names could hover over their heads, just like in EA Sports. Don’t know the name of that player entering the game in the second half? Simply zoom to access their name, position and stats. Who wouldn’t want a pair of binoculars with all the capabilities of your smartphone and more?
Venue navigation
Can’t find the washroom? Simply say “take me to the bathroom” and the device’s voice-recognition will instruct the display to guide you with floating arrows. You’ll never again get lost in a new stadium.
Next best thing
Although nothing beats actually being there, friends could broadcast their first-person views to those stuck at home. Lucky fans could stream games without having to hold up their phones.
More ads revenue
Advertisers would be able to display digital media placements throughout any venue...without annoying fans. These virtual ads wouldn’t bother users, only featuring on surfaces in the stadium when users look at them. It might even be difficult for fans to tell what signs are real and which are powered by AR (augmented reality).
Could the stadium experience at future UEFA Euros and FIFA World Cups be made better by Smart Glasses?
A next-gen advantage?
While spectators are poised to benefit from the emergence of Smart Glasses, coaches and management will be given a new tool to gain the upper hand.
Managers could watch games from the sidelines and forget they’re even wearing the devices - until the display notifies them of a tactical change made by their opponent.
Smart Glasses could streamline communications between managers and their assistants, giving early adopting teams an edge over competitors that hesitate to get on board.
Do you think fans will use Smart Glasses at Euro 2024?