February 13, 2020 10:00 pm

Friday, Share in Our Love of Sports Technology

On this week’s episode of StarTalk Sports Edition, which aptly comes on Valentine’s Day, we are celebrating our love and passion for sports technology. What does the future of sports technology look like? Virtual Reality training? Artificial intelligence assisted injury prevention? Have these things already started to happen? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly are ready to answer your fan-submitted Cosmic Queries on the past, present, and future of technology in sports.

To guide us through this ever-changing field, we called in an expert: Angela Ruggiero. Angela, who brought home Olympic Gold as a member of the United States Hockey Team, currently serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of the Sports Innovation Lab. SIL is a “technology powered market research firm focused on the intersection of sports and innovation with a focus on identifying trends and evaluating technology products and services that will drive the future of sport.”

We start with the small stuff. How does the future of quantum computing factor into the future of sports technology? Angela tells us how computers are already helping across all sports. You’ll learn how computers and artificial intelligence are helping predict possible malfunctions in NASCAR cars. We explore the use of A.I. to decrease injuries in sport, and we investigate how A.I. can help personalize fan experience.

Discover more about “fluid fans” and how sports franchises are doing more and more to adhere to the nature of sports fans today. We discuss who owns a player’s biometric data once the data is put out into the world. Could A.I. be viewed as an unfair advantage over teams who can’t afford to implement the latest technology into its practices? Angela tells us about the player puck tracking being introduced in the NHL.

Find out why Angela believes that when teams build new stadiums they aren’t just building a place to play the games. We ponder if the developments of sports technology will allow athletes with less talent to play professionally. Lastly, we break down why the “Greatest of All Time” debate will always be flawed. All that, plus, Angela shares why she thinks sports is one of the most impactful ways to teach good human behavior

You can find Cosmic Queries – The Joy of Tech right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re a StarTalk+ Patron or an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free.

You can find StarTalk Sports Edition in the main StarTalk feed every other Friday.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
-Ian Mullen