When Sports Go Digital
While instant replays, aerodynamic golf balls and football helmets with microphones are among the top innovations in sports, there’s an emerging technology that makes those three look like minor leaguers. It’s called Digital Twins, and it promises to revolutionize sports across many facets of the game. From training sessions to game day strategies, and even fantasy sports – the future of sports tech is about to get a whole lot more exciting. So, lace up your cleats and tighten your chin strap. Let’s kick off our deep dive into all things Digital Twins!
Meet the Digital MVP
A Digital Twin is a virtual representation of a physical object, process or system, created from real-time and historical data to monitor, simulate, and predict behavior. In sports, a Digital Twin is like your favorite athlete’s doppelgänger, mirroring the physical form and movements of athletes, sports gear, or even entire arenas. This digital lookalike is the bridge between the physical and digital worlds. (Imagine basketball teams facing off against two Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders. That would be a nightmare for defenses!) This digital representation of an athlete would enable coaches, team physicians (and even the athlete) to evaluate their performances, predict behaviors, and make informed decisions on how the player can get better results. It could be especially helpful for that highly paid star player stuck in a slump looking for a new way to evaluate his performance (before the team owner calls for him to be shipped out).
An Elite Team of Technologies
Digital Twins are not a single technology but a combination of several cutting-edge technologies working together. They have great chemistry, too; no one tries to hog the ball. The all-star lineup features four key components:
- Internet of Things (IoT) Sensors: Digital Twin technology uses sensors to collect real-time data from the physical world. The sensors could be embedded in athletes’ wearables, equipment, or throughout an arena.
- Data Analytics: Advanced platforms process and interpret the data collected by IoT sensors to identify patterns and provide insights.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): AI and ML algorithms could predict outcomes, maximize performance, calculate an athlete’s injury risk or optimize a team’s pre-game strategy.
- Cloud Computing: It provides the infrastructure needed for real-time data processing and makes it accessible from anywhere in the world.
In sports, Digital Twins facilitate a continuous cycle of data collection, analysis, and optimization, fueling unparalleled insights that impact athletic performance. For example, in a team sport like basketball, virtual models of players (along with the court) could be created to help coaches test different strategies in virtual scenarios before employing them in real games.
Digital Twins would enable coaches to analyze in advance how their players, as well as their opponents, would behave and react in game situations and then they could gameplan accordingly. The Digital Twin serves as a “simulation” that provides important information for decision-making in real time during a game.
Take track & field star Faith Kipyegon, who turned to innovative technology in her goal to become the first female to run a sub-four-minute mile. Nike used Digital Twin modeling and simulations to optimize her performance. But instead of creating a Digital Twin of Kipyegon, the technology was used to develop race-specific gear and predict race-day variables like aerodynamics and pacing. Known as Breaking4, the project demonstrated how digital technologies can be applied to elite athletic performance.
Biometrics are in Play
The hit movie, Moneyball, generated a lot of interest in the use of data and analytics in professional sports. And in the last decade, wearable biometric monitoring devices have grown significantly. An innovative device, like WHOOP, which was approved by Major League Baseball (MLB), is used to collect data relating to a player’s sleep, recovery, strain, heart rate, and more. Intended to be worn throughout the day and night, it collects 100 megabytes of data per day, enabling a player and a team to monitor the current state of the athlete’s body heading into a game. Those metrics could be used to create a Digital Twin the athlete can use to identify new ways to improve their game.
MLB teams cannot mandate that players wear the WHOOP monitor; it’s the players’ choice. However, athletes across professional and college sports have voiced concerns over how their biometric data could be handled, especially given the high commercial value of this information. The MLB Players Association subsequently negotiated with MLB in 2022 to include a provision that protects player biometric and health data — particularly from wearable technology — from being licensed or used to evaluate player performance.
Stats Ready for Action
Not only could Digital Twin technology help real players sharpen their skills, but it could also help fantasy players elevate their game, too. By creating digital replicas of stadiums, players, and game scenarios, Digital Twins would offer fantasy sports players reams of real-time data and immersive virtual experiences. It would enable fantasy players to access in-depth and granular player statistics, helping inform their Start/Sit lineup strategies. It’d be like having a scout give you an advanced report on players’ strengths and tendencies — everything except clarifying rumors that the player was out partying the night before.
Fantasy players could eventually test different trade or waiver wire moves by simulating how a new player would perform in their lineup in future matchups. As a real contest unfolds, the Digital Twin could run thousands of simulations predicting player outcomes based on game flow—like if a tight end will catch a pass on the next play. This innovative technology would also provide incredible 360-degree views of games and enable fantasy players to interact in simulated game action — all creating a more personalized fantasy sports experience. It might get so real that you’ll need a post-game shower.
However, for Digital Twins to be a hit in fantasy sports, players will need to invest in new platforms and overcome some obstacles to entry, like buying a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, which may dissuade some casual fans.
From Couch to Digital Competitor
The gaming space has always been fertile ground for innovation, and now Digital Twin technology is opening doors to the next frontier of immersive worlds that reflect and respond like their physical counterparts. Gamers could create their Digital Twins via apps that leverage personal media and AI to generate a 3D animated avatar within a game or social platform. These apps take on a person’s likeness, expressions, and voice, which are then animated to interact with users.
Traditional digital games and virtual environments are fairly static. But Digital Twins would unlock more immersive game experiences, making the games feel alive. By introducing real-time data integration, behavioral modeling and system feedback loops, conventional game spaces would become wholly dynamic and reactive. This technology is increasingly being used by esports teams where data-driven insights help users gain a competitive edge. The data helps inform a team’s strategic approach, anticipate their opponent’s next move, and accelerate their reaction time. When victory is measured in milliseconds, Digital Twins are awesome teammates. And they won’t eat your gamer snacks.
Prime Viewing Inside Virtual Stadiums
Just as Digital Twins could revolutionize player performance, they could also transform how fans watch sports on their choice of media. Digital Twin technology could be used to create virtual replicas of sports venues and provide immersive and personalized experiences for viewers. It could bring them directly into the arena, offering gamified experiences before or during the event, real-time interaction with other fans, enhanced access to statistics, and 3D graphical analyses.
Augmented Reality (AR) platforms can overlay real-time stats, player information and virtual replays right onto a viewer’s screen. While best experienced through Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, AR platforms could generate immersive 360-degree environments, enabling fans to see the action like they were sitting inside the venue, even as close as courtside. Embedded in a broadcaster’s website or smart TV channel, this technology would give fans an alternative and interactive way to watch live sports. Fans would get access to many venue features, except of course, the vendor in the stands selling cold drinks.
With the help of Digital Twin technology, the Atlanta Braves were one of the first major league baseball teams to enter the metaverse with their Digital Truist Park, a photo-realistic replica of their home stadium. Created to spark Braves buzz and engage future Braves fans, once inside Digital Truist Park, fans can create avatars, explore areas such as the team’s clubhouse, meet other fans, access interactive features and play games.
Impacting Many Facets of the Game
Digital Twin technology promises to be a game changer for athletes, fans, and sports marketing. Let’s take a look at how each group will benefit:
Athletes: The ability for Digital Twins to create personalized training programs could help coaches customize workouts based on an athlete’s specific needs, whether they are rehabbing an injury or seeking to optimize their speed or strength. By utilizing live data, athletes could train more efficiently, prevent potential injuries, and ultimately elevate their performance.
Fans: Digital Twins would be a big win for fans as it would enable immersive viewing experiences, where they could access real-time data on players, plays and overall team performance. The technology could recreate game action in 3D, too, giving fans an up-close and personal vantage point.
Sports Marketing: The technology could create new marketing and sponsorship opportunities by providing platforms for branding and advertising integration. Advertisers could leverage the Digital Twin experience to promote their products and engage with spectators, driving revenue and strengthening brand-consumer connections.
Playing Fair in a Digital World
As Digital Twin technology advances, sports experiences will become immersive, data-driven, and personalized. However, the challenge will be to utilize this technology and still maintain the key elements that make the games fair and captivating. No fan or player is happy when another team has an unfair advantage; like when the New England Patriots deflated footballs, making them easier to grip. Naughty Pats!
Here are several ethical aspects that need to be considered:
- Data Privacy: As more player data is collected and analyzed, ensuring privacy and its ethical use will be vital. Will athletes be given the right to their personal biometric data and digital representations? Will they have a choice in whether their information is used for commercial purposes?
- Accessibility and Competitive Balance: To truly ensure fair play, Digital Twin technology will need to be made accessible to all athletes and teams.
- Authenticity: Extensive Digital Twin analysis could erode the human elements of sports that make them so compelling like intuition, creativity, unpredictability and emotion.
- Fan Alienation: With broadcasts integrating more Digital Twin-driven analytics, sports purists may balk at all the technology overriding the actual game.
Thoughtful dialogue about these concerns will be necessary to ensure Digital Twin technology enhances rather than endangers the sporting experience for fans, players, the media, and sports organizations. And let’s face it; no one wants to jeopardize watching pro football games on a Fall Sunday afternoon.
Two Worlds, One Game
Like a quarterback and his trusted wide receiver, physical sports and digital worlds have a synergy — and Digital Twins is helping push the ball downfield. Its most significant impact lies ahead. The convergence of Digital Twins with AI, extended reality and biometric sensing promises to further integrate physical and digital sports experiences. The challenge will be in its implementation. Victory will be achieved when Digital Twins enhance the world’s appreciation for amazing physical accomplishments, as well as the competitive storylines that make sports so compelling.
Wondering if Digital Twins technology could solve challenges in your organization? Go Studio can help. To explore your specific needs, schedule a free consultation now.
