The top tech at the 2018 Winter Olympics: 5G, VR, 4K, bullet time and SmartSuits

Samsung’s sensor-packed SmartSuits and Galaxy S8 phones will offer training feedback to athletes, while driverless buses show the action on window screens. A trial 5G network will add to the speed and power of sports footage

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The Winter Games Virtual Reality Experience Zone in Gangneung, east of Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Lee Jae-Won/AFLO/Alamy

Published: 6:18pm, 3 Feb 2018Updated: 6:07pm, 4 Feb 2018

For those who travel to Pyeongchang at 300 kilometres per hour on the newly opened KTX bullet train from Seoul this week for the Winter Games, it will seem that the Olympic technology demonstration has already begun.

An estimated 90 nations will take part in 102 events in 15 sports at South Korea’s Pyeongchang ski resort, but the event could very well go down in history for the technology it introduces to the world. From sensor-packed ski suits and virtual reality (VR) to “bullet time” and live 4K broadcasts, the 23rd Winter Olympics from February 9 to 25 looks set to be a showcase for the very latest hyped-up tech.

Breaking the ice will be speed skating. Although it looks to be all about strength and explosive speed, the sport is as much about how low athletes can squat. Two Dutch athletes will be receiving feedback on their technique thanks to a fleet of sensors all over their bodies.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone. The Korean giant’s tech will feature prominently at the Winter Olympics.

Short-track speed skaters Suzanne Schulting and Sjinkie Knegt will both wear a Samsung SmartSuit, which will send real-time data on their exact body position to their coaches’ smartphones. An app will then analyse their racing posture and suggest how tiny changes in technique could improve their performance around the oval ice track.

The coach can then send haptic vibrations to a wristband to communicate instructions. So what devices will the coaches use? Samsung Galaxy S8 phones, naturally. For now, the technology can’t be used by athletes in competition, only in training runs, but for a sport that relies so much on technique it could give the Dutch athletes the edge.

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Another use of mobile phone tech in Pyeongchang is less about speed and more about accuracy. Designed to take spectators between venues, automated buses developed by Korea Telecom (KT) will showcase way more than just driverless vehicles. Inside the buses will be transparent screens instead of windows showing live video from around the venue’s sporting arenas.