1. Alex Brewers
Technology Paper
Sports redefined
As new technology is built and sports continue to thrive and expand on an international
level, the integration between the sports world and developing technology cannot be overlooked.
Although the field of sports informatics is relatively new, its development into a promising form
of science is successfully emerging. The field is defined as a “collectivity of knowledge,
scientific argumentation, and research methods that deal with problems and phenomena related
to sport” (Lames, and Link). Given this broad definition, sport informatics possesses many
attractive perspectives within sport, including but not limited to: “the measurement and reporting
of physiological data, computerized performance analysis, and motor behavior and physiological
adaptation” (Lames, and Link). In other words, the current approaches used by scientists in this
field are described as creating a virtual environment for training specific perception tasks for a
particular sport. Inevitably, this type of virtual sports environment possesses the power to
redefine the athletic world as this new age of technology simultaneously redefines our culture.
The International Association on Computer Science in Sport (IACSS) was created in
2002 for research in the area of sports development. The strongest factor that helps fuel this
association’s success is its close links with other various sports data and informatics workgroups.
It maintains relations with the International Association for Sports Information (IASI) and the
International Sports Engineering Association (ISEA) to name a few( Lames, and Link). All of
these perform research activities and contribute new technological innovations to sport through
software tools and informatics paradigms. Aside from the structure of the governance of sports

2. informatics, the field must be examined much more deeply to develop a complete understanding
of how these practical sports applications come about.
Since the 1960’s, computers have been reliable for storing all sorts of data, including
storing sports information in large databases. However, not until the 1970’s did scientists and
society become increasingly aware that we can integrate this data and computer processes with
real life processes to create new ideas (Computer). As such, it is the computer science field that
truly leads to innovative engineering design systems that allow for the research already discussed
such as computerized performance analysis. Just as computer science in any other discipline,
such as business or biology, contains mathematical and algorithmic structure to transform
information into applications, computer science in sport “applies to data handling and software
development for the purpose of documenting training, controlling sensors, or visualizing data in
sports” (Lames, and Link). It is when information technology is integrated with this to develop
an “important source of innovations for training and competition” (Lames, and Link). The basic
operation of a sports-geared computer science program begins with collecting a subject’s
physiological, psychological, and specific sport’s motor skills data. All of this data is then
processed, especially with digitalized graphic technology, and information regarding
performance predictions, health fitness, exercise prescriptions, and computational biomechanics
is subsequently produced (Li). What researcher’s do in this field is what can be defined as actual
sports informatics. Questions relating to this information may include how to utilize the data,
what to use it for, how may it better the individual or team, and why is this data the way it is and
what relations and introspections can be made about this data in relation to other similar data.
Although the basic building blocks of this field are adequately present, knowledge about
this field remains relatively sparse in the scientific community. This is mostly because a

3. successful establishment of a recognized research method has yet to evolve. If created, however,
I believe that the implications this field may hold will stretch further than most believe as long as
communication of sport scientific expertise and recognition is given accordingly. As stated, the
main problem with continuing research in this field lies in what way to approach it. So how do
we fix this problem so we can make this field more useful? Over the past twenty years, studies
on the various research methods have found that two types of approaches prove most successful
(Li). The first one is multidisciplinary, where sport science applies existing approaches and tools
from computer science (Lames, and Link). This is broad and general which is why it works well.
Second comes a pseudo-interdisciplinary approach, which involves integrating knowledge from
computer science into sport science. This happens when a particular area needs technical
solutions that do not already exist in the market. The first approach is more application based
while the second one deals with integration, both suitable for the complex sport science field.
Just as informatics in general contains a wide range of disciplines because it is all about
various forms of information, sports science is an all-encompassing field as well. This is what
makes it extremely difficult to pinpoint a solution to a specific problem and especially make
significant advancements in sports informatics. However, this paper recognizes the optimistic
opportunities for developing this field successfully. With the guidance of the various sport
science associations, integration of computer science and sport-based applications, and influx of
data for informaticists to delve into and establish unique relationships and correlations, the field
of sport science is definitely that will continue to grow. Nonetheless, growth inevitably
envelopes change. So although the field has already been somewhat established, expect
successful change in the scientific approach methods and applications developed for it.

5. Works Cited
Lames, Martin, and Daniel Link. "Sport Informatics - Historical Roots, Interdisciplinary and
Future Developments." International Journal of Computer Science in Sport. 8.2 n. page.
Web. 2 Feb. 2013.
Li, Sui. "Sports informatics: a new interdiscipline in sports science." . N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar
2013. <http://cev.org.br/biblioteca/sports-informatics-new-interdiscipline-in-sports-
science/>.
"Computer Science in Sport." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Mar 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science_in_sport>.