Multimedia and the Internet for Sport Sciences: Applications and Innovations

The Internet provides an unprecedented forum for communication, collaboration, access to information, and dissemination of ideas, resources, and learning opportunities. Increased bandwidth for data transfer has enabled an amazingly diverse set of multimedia applications to emerge within a very short time. This paper examines these specific Internet opportunities in the context of sport sciences and multimedia applications. The spectrum ranges from multimedia video transmission and video streaming to, multimedia object repositories, online multimedia learning, and online, personalized skill evaluation. All the examples provided employ a sport or kinesiology context. As researchers, coaches, educators and designers become more comfortable with computer technology and its potential, there should be a concomitant increase in the number and nature of available applications, and a significant increase in those who adopt the technology. The flexibility inherent in using computers provides the opportunity to approach activities in new and innovative ways. This paper presents a number of suggestions for rethinking the problem solving process in order to realize that potential. Ultimately, widespread adoption of computer technology within the sport sciences and coaching fields awaits applications that are easy to use, reliable, meet the needs of the user, and are cost effective.