Samsung looks set to use some creative ways to deliver an immersive viewing experience for the anticipated Olympics opening ceremony. This was confirmed this week by the South Korean tech firm that is a major sponsor of the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.
In collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), Samsung will be using over 200 Galaxy S24 Ultra devices to broadcast the opening ceremony parade on July 26th. The phones will also be used for the sailing competitions starting July 28th.
The company is set to have 5G base stations set up by local partner, Orange that will be used to relay footage from each Galaxy S24 Ultra in use during the sailing events. Each competing yacht will have a device mounted, allowing viewers to feel the adrenaline as if on board.
Speaking about this experience, Stephanie Choi, EVP & Head of Marketing of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics said, “In an increasingly connected society, Samsung Galaxy mobile technology has helped deepen and transform users’ relationships with the world, wherever they are. Having been a Worldwide Partner for nearly three decades, we know first-hand how important it is to create and enable the same meaningful connections at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“We’re honoured to be working closely with the IOC and OBS to provide high-quality footage that will be part of a series of firsts at Paris 2024 and bring fans at home and onsite even closer to the excitement,” she added.
Samsung revealed that many challenges arose as they were planning and researching this broadcast but were able to solve them in partnership with IOC and OBS. Many of the challenges involved video quality and connectivity performance across various bodies of water and weather conditions, which can be windy with huge waves or extremely hot and sunny.
So it will be interesting how this translates during the events and how other broadcasters and producers can use this as a lesson for using smartphones for advanced broadcasts in the future.
