Traditional Sports and Games: A New Opportunity for Personalized Access to Cultural Heritage

Sport is the most universal of cultural pursuits – it is accessible and of interest to all. Traditional Sports and Games (TSG) are as diverse as our cultures. TSG organisations work tirelessly to promote participation in their sports, but also act as custodians of custom, language and history. However, trends in globalisation have led to a convergence of the majority of spectator interest to just a few mainstream sports with culturally homogonous identities. In this position paper, we present the case for preservation of TSG using both existing state of the art 3D digitisation technology but also highlight the need to develop low-cost personalisable solutions. This dual approach would potentially allow the styles of play of elite sportspersons (national heroes) to be captured with precision for posterity, and amateur sportspersons (local heroes) to be captured with inexpensive setups to ensure personalized accessible solutions.