Time Machine: Tokyo 2021 Olympics left many questions in their aftermath

This story originally ran in the Japanese newspaper Yukan Fuji in 2021.

TOKYO — The 2021 Tokyo Olympics are over and in some respects they were successful. The nation was entranced by the performance of Japanese athletes who won a record number of medals. Twenty-seven golds, with 33 of the overall total of 58 medals won by women. Their success, and smiling faces, helped people forget about the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that roughly 80% of the population had wanted the games, which had to be held with no spectators, to be canceled.

Moreover, innovative broadcasting technologies made watching the competition on TV a satisfying and rewarding experience. This included the use of artificial intelligence-based 3D Athlete Tracking technology developed by Intel and Alibaba, and other new technologies such as multi-camera replay systems, live and on-demand immersive 180° stereoscopic and 360° panoramic coverage, and virtual 3D graphics in the newly introduced event sport climbing, among other competitions.