The 2020 Tokyo Summer Games could be projected as 3D holograms outside of Olympic venues in real time thanks to unprecedented technology.
The groundbreaking system does not require competing athletes to wear motion sensors, nor do viewers have to wear 3D glasses to view the events.
The Japanese company behind the system, NTT, says their technology will allow people in other venues to observe Olympic events as if they are in the arena.
The system will make the Games more accessible to the nine million people living in Tokyo.
NTT said viewers will be able to see life-size representations of the competing athletes as they perform in Tokyo.
The system is called Kirari! For Arena and uses multiple cameras to track the movements of the athlete.
The images are then transported to devices which show 3D hologram figures in real-time in a different location.
NTT senior research engineer Kota Hidaka said: 'From all four directions, you can see players projected in the field moving in 3D.'
Their technology will allow fans unable to watch a karate match in an arena the chance to observe it via 3D holograms of the fighters battling it out live.
'You can feel the ultra-high-level experience as if you are on real time in every place. We propose a new spectator style to watch the competition,' an NTT statement said.
The company explained that their new system reproduces everything that happens in the competition space.
It does so through the combination of depth sensors that use laser lights and location tracking information.
The system makes possible the discernment between even slight color differences, NTT said.
HOW DOES THE TECHNOLOGY WORK?
A Japanese telecommunications company called NTT has created a new system that could allow people to observe the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 3D from a remote location.
The technology does not require sensors to be attached to athletes, which older 3D systems require.
Spectators will not have to wear 3D glasses to view the events using the new system, which is called Kirari! For Arena.
'By positively utilizing the knowledge of human visual elements, it is possible to obtain a smooth view point with a small number of light sources,' an NTT statement explained.
The company developed display technology for its new system that allows for the naked eye to process the images.
Kirari! For Arena will grow the number of people able to view Olympic events up close and personal.
The Olympics attract hundreds of thousands of spectators and upwards of four billion television viewers.
The introduction of the technology at the 2020 Summer Games is significant given that Tokyo is the most populated city in the world, with more than nine million inhabitants.
Kirari! For Arena will make the Games more accessible outside of venues with limited seating options.
The company explained: 'It is as if the athlete moves about the real space in front of you. It became possible to express [a] more spatial positional relationship more dynamically.
'It has become possible to enhance the experience more. Experience sports as entertainment beyond time and space.'
NTT said it is working to bring down the cost of the technology.
'We are hoping to establish the system and deliver the service in which people can enjoy watching games by gathering around the 3D hologram,' Hidaka said.
NTT is an official sponsor of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
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