Suunto and FIS, International Ski Federation, will co-operate to provide new performance measurement data to TV audiences. TV viewers will see precise information on cross-country skiers with the help of Suunto t6 wristop computers and wireless sensors from Suunto. In the first phase, the wristop computer will transmit the competitors' heart rate onto TV screens. In the future, the viewer will also be able to follow their skiing speed, and the distance in meters between competitors, also outside the normal intermediate time points.
The TV graphics and processing of the Suunto performance data is being produced in cooperation with WIGE DATA, a company of the WIGE MEDAIA AG in Frechen/Germany. WIGE DATA is one of the leading providers in the world of timing and result services for different sports. WIGE DATA produces results and timing graphics for TV feeds for all the FIS Nordic events including the World Cup of Nordic skiing and the Nordic Ski World Championships.
“Suunto brings the backstage of competitions into everyone's living room, providing the TV-audience with a deeper experience of the competition, as they can compare physiological parameters of selected top athletes”, says Dan Colliander, CEO of Suunto Oy.
The new service will be available for international TV broadcast of the Ski World Championships in Oberstdorf in February, 2005. The first competition where the new technology will be applied is the world cup opening in Kuusamo, Finland, at the end of November. The top eight top skiers in the world-ranking list will be equipped with Suunto t6 wristop computers that transmit their performance measurement data onto the TV display.
