SMART stands for “Sport Mouvement Ambition Recherche et Technologie” (Sport Movement Ambition Research and Technology).
Supported by the Bordeaux University, financed as part of Opération Campus Bordeaux and accredited as a preparatory center for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, this building is dedicated to research, training, innovation and sports practices. Within this brand new kind of gymnasium, the Université de Bordeaux wanted to equip itself with a digital collaboration room designed by Immersion.
On the occasion of the inauguration of the SMART connected gymnasium, Immersion presented its Shariiing data visualization and collaboration solution, here dedicated to sports performance, during guided tours. With less than 100 days to go before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the company is demonstrating its ability to put its expertise in displaying and sharing data that encourages interaction and collaboration at the service of sport.
The aim? Determine the information essential to decision-making concerning athletes and training strategies.
Photo credit: Bordeaux University / Gautier DUFAU
A smart, connected gym
The 4200 m2 SMART gymnasium features two connected, instrumented gyms, a physical preparation room, dance and fitness classes, as well as innovative teaching and seminar facilities. The bleachers can accommodate 280 people.
This intelligent gym is equipped with sensors (motion detectors, muscle and brain activity, eye-tracking, indoor GPS, etc.), robotic cameras supplemented by a GPS system, and other technological monitoring solutions. All this data from the SMART building is collected in a database created by CATIE (Centre Aquitain des Technologies de l’Information et Electroniques), then displayed in the digital collaboration room equipped with collaborative technologies: a Meetiiim table and touch screens with Shariiing software. This central location, which puts sportsmen and women at the center, was designed by Immersion.
Photo credit : Bordeaux University / Gautier DUFAU
The ambition of this building is to be able to bring together a large number of complex data from sports training, and to process them in such a way as to make them accessible to all.
This space, dedicated to sport and innovation, is a place for living and meeting, with the aim of studying and understanding the mechanisms of performance and human motricity.
“Our aim is to develop a network bringing together athletes, industrialists and researchers to better understand human and sporting motor skills, from the practice of physical activities for the greatest number to the support of high performance, from traditional practice to e-sport”, Julien Morlier, director of the SMART building.
For Immersion, this gymnasium is the culmination of a project initiated back in 2015, which began with a POC (Proof of Concept) whose deliverable was needs studies conducted with major clubs (Girondins de Bordeaux, UBB, Boxers de Bordeaux) accompanied by experimentation within the Immersion showroom.
Photo credit : Bordeaux University / Gautier DUFAU
The digital collaboration room at the heart of the gymnasium
Within the SMART building, perched above the central court, the room dedicated to data visualization and collaboration takes on the role of the complex’s “decision center”.
Combining a large video wall with 3 85″ screens and a Meetiiim collaborative table, this 30 m2 glassed-in space overlooking the basketball court will be the heart of the building. It will be a central work area, enabling those involved in performance (technical and sports teams) to gather around the data collected in the gym and make more informed decisions.
This provides participants with an overview from which they can interact and analyze data intuitively, and develop their future strategies. The recording of work sessions will enable decisions to be monitored and put into practice, and iterative procedures to be implemented to assess their impact on the field. In the medium/long term, the SMART gymnasium aims to encourage the emergence of research projects in the field of sport, and more broadly in the understanding of human motricity.
“Imagining and proposing an immersive, collaborative workspace that encourages interaction and facilitates decision-making is Immersion’s very expertise. That’s why we were immediately attracted to the SMART project, led by Julien Morlier, professor at the University of Bordeaux and Director of SMART, which aims not only to support athletes in measuring their overall performance and improving their practice, but also to encourage research projects on this theme”, explains Julien CASTET, Research & Innovation Director, Immersion.
An international athlete at Immersion: feedback on Shariiing
We are fortunate to have on our team Juliette Vauchez, a Human Factor Engineer and top-level athlete in Wushu, a Chinese martial art consisting of codified technical sequences lasting around 1’30 (the Taolu).
Juliette uses the Shariiing collaboration software as a privileged space for her video analysis and performance monitoring.
“When I’m preparing for competitions, I allocate a video analysis slot in Shariiing, on my sequences on a weekly basis and occasionally also on my competitors. I also display other data such as the rules, my notes, or mental preparation exercises, for example, which have given me new areas to work on. I then take all this analysis with me to training, thanks to the screenshot I keep on my phone. I feel like I’ve improved since my last competition, and I think it’s partly thanks to my regular analysis work on Shariiing.”, observes Juliette Vauchez.
Photo credit : Bordeaux University / Gautier DUFAU
From the outset, Julien Morlier’s ambition for the SMART gym was that it should be able to accommodate and integrate technologies that didn’t yet exist. For the benefit of athletes, researchers and beyond. This strong ambition echoes Immersion’s mission and the daily commitment of its employees. We wish SMART fabulous sports and research projects!
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