Computer science in sport is an interdisciplinary discipline that has its goal in combining the theoretical as well as practical aspects and methods of the areas of

informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems. According to the Association for Computing Machinery, ACM Europe Council and Informatics Europe, informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which the centra ...

and

sport science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

. The main emphasis of the

interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

is placed on the application and use of computer-based, but also mathematical techniques in sport science, aiming in this way at the support and advancement of theory and practice in sports. The reason

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

has become an important partner for sport science is mainly connected with "the fact that the use of data and media, the design of models, the analysis of systems etc. increasingly requires the support of suitable tools and concepts which are developed and available in computer science".

Historical background

Going back in history, computers in sports were used for the first time in the 1960s, when the main purpose was to accumulate sports information.

Database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

s were created and expanded in order to launch documentation and dissemination of publications like articles or books that contain any kind of knowledge related to sports science. Until the mid-1970s also the first organization in this area called IASI (International Association for Sports Information) was formally established. Congresses and meetings were organized more often with the aim of standardization and rationalization of sports documentation. Since at that time this area was obviously less computer-oriented, specialists talk about sports information rather than sports informatics when mentioning the beginning of this field of science. Based on the progress of computer science and the invention of more powerful computer hardware in the 1970s, also the real history of computer science in sport began. This was as well the first time when this term was officially used and the initiation of a very important evolution in sports science. In the early stages of this area statistics on biomechanical data, like different kinds of forces or rates, played a major role. Scientists started to analyze sports games by collecting and looking at such values and features in order to interpret them. Later on, with the continuous improvement of computer hardware — in particular microprocessor speed – many new scientific and computing paradigms were introduced, which were also integrated in computer science in sport. Specific examples are modeling as well as

simulation A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

, but also

pattern recognition Pattern recognition is the task of assigning a class to an observation based on patterns extracted from data. While similar, pattern recognition (PR) is not to be confused with pattern machines (PM) which may possess PR capabilities but their p ...

, and design. As another result of this development, the term 'computer science in sport' has been added in the encyclopedia of sports science in 2004.

Areas of research

The importance and strong influence of computer science as an interdisciplinary partner for sport and sport science is mainly proven by the research activities in computer science in sport. The following IT concepts are thereby of particular interest: *

Data acquisition Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real-world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data acquisition systems, abbreviated by the ...

and

data processing Data processing is the collection and manipulation of digital data to produce meaningful information. Data processing is a form of ''information processing'', which is the modification (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an o ...

* Databases and

expert system In artificial intelligence (AI), an expert system is a computer system emulating the decision-making ability of a human expert. Expert systems are designed to solve complex problems by reasoning through bodies of knowledge, represented mainly as ...

s * Modelling (mathematical, IT based, biomechanical, physiological) * Simulation (interactive, animation etc.) * Presentation Based on the fields from above, the main areas of research in computer science in sport include amongst others: *

Training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

and coaching *

Biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to Organ (anatomy), organs, Cell (biology), cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechani ...

Sports equipment Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since th ...

and technology * Computer-aided applications (software, hardware) in sports *

Ubiquitous computing Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear seamlessly anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing imp ...

in sports *

Multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

* Documentation * Education

Research communities

A clear demonstration for the evolution and propagation towards computer science in sport is also the fact that nowadays people do research in this area all over the world. Since the 1990s, many new national and international organizations regarding the topic of computer science in sport were established. These associations are regularly organizing congresses and workshops with the aim of dissemination as well as exchange of scientific knowledge and information on all sort of topics regarding the interdisciplinary discipline.

Historical survey

As a first example, in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

scientists have built up the MathSport group of ANZIAM (Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics), which since 1992 organizes biennial meetings, initially under the name "Mathematics and Computers in Sport Conferences", and now " MathSport".MathSport
www.anziam.org.au Main topics are mathematical models and computer applications in sports, as well as coaching and teaching methods based on informatics. The European community was also amongst the leading motors of the emergence of the field. Some workshops on this topic were successfully organized in Germany since the late 1980s. In 1997 the first international meeting on computer science in sport was held in Cologne. The main aim was to spread out and share applications, ideas and concepts of the use of computers in sports, which should also make a contribution to the creation of internationalization and thus to boost research work in this area. Since then, such international symposia took place every two years all over Europe. As the first conferences were a raving success, it was decided to go even further and the foundation of an organization was the logical consequence. This step was accomplished in 2003, when the International Association of Computer Science in Sport (IACSS) was established during the 4th international symposium in Barcelona, when Prof. Jürgen Perl was also chosen as the first president. A few years earlier, the first international e-journal on this topic (International Journal of Computer Science in Sport) was released already. The internationalization is confirmed moreover by the fact that three conferences already took place outside of Europe - in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) in 2007,

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

(

) in 2009 and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

(

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) in 2011. During the symposium in Calgary additionally, the president position changed - it has been assigned to Prof. Arnold Baca, who has been re-elected in 2009 and 2011. The following Symposia on Computer Science in Sport took place in Europe again, in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

(

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) in 2013 and in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

( UK) in 2015. In 2017 the 11th Symposium of Computer Science in Sport took place in

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

). During the conference in Istanbul Prof. Martin Lames was elected as president of the IACSS. He was re-elected in 2015, 2017 and 2019. The 12th International Symposium of Computer Science in Sports was held in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

(

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) from 8 to 10 July 2019: https://iacss2019.ru/

National organizations

In addition to the international associations from above, currently the following national associations on computer science in sport exist (if available, the web addresses are also given): * Austrian Association of Computer Science in Sport - http://www.sportinformatik.at * British Association of Computer Science in Sport and Exercise * Chinese Association of Computer Science in Sport * Croatian Association of Computer Science in Sport * Section Computer Science in Sport of the German Association of Sport Science - http://www.dvs-sportinformatik.de (in German) * Swiss Association of Computer Science in Sport SACSS - http://sacss.org * Indian Federation of Computer Science in Sport - http://www.ifcss.in * Portuguese Association of Computer Science in Sport * Turkish Association of Computer Science in Sport * Russian Association of Computer Science in Sport - https://www.racss.ru/

References

External links

MathSport - ANZIAM (Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics)

ECSS (European College of Sport Science)

Havuz Ekipmanları

ISEA (International Sports Engineering Association)

IACSS (International Association of Computer Science in Sport)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Computer Science In Sport Computer science Sports science