Rio de Janeiro: Panasonic Corporation, an official worldwide partner for the Olympic Games, plans to go ‘one-up’ on their broadcast technology when the next Summer Games takes place in Tokyo in four years’ time.
Speaking to Gulf News in an informal chat, Anthony Peter, Director of Corporate Communications of Panasonic Marketing Middle East and Africa FZE (PMMAF), said: “Staging an Olympics in Tokyo will be like a homecoming for Panasonic. It’s difficult to say what technology will be exactly used, but we will certainly go one-up on the technological advancement made in Rio.”
An Olympics partner since 1992, the electronics major has recently renewed their agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) till 2024. When asked about a possible improvement on the 4k technology for the next edition of the Games, the official said: “We generally look ahead at around a eight-year span for research and development in the technology of broadcasting, where we work closely with Olympics Broadcasting Services (OBS).”
Panasonic had, with an eye towards the regional market in the Middle East and Africa, launched a campaign ‘Yalla Rio (Let’s go Rio) featuring Neymar, the Brazilian captain who had been a brand ambassador for them since 2010. “It was aimed at bringing our customers closer to the Games by sharing the passion and it yielded a very good response,” he said.
The other surprise for visitors to Rio was a ‘Stadium of Wonders,’ a corporate pavilion which they had launched in partnership with the Sugarloaf Mountain — a tourist hot spot located in the Copacabana district of the city. Visitors to the Olympic city, who took the cable car ride to the mountain top which offers a breathtaking view of the city, witnessed visual content on the evolution of technology over Panasonic’s 25-plus-year support to the Games over a floor area of around 500 square metres.
The company now plans to bring some of it’s exhibits advanced innovations and technologies to the UAE at the forthcoming Gitex Technology Week in Dubai.
“Our customers in the region will be lucky to get an insight of the optical light ID technology, transparent displays and other exciting innovative, visual and communications solutions,” the official said.
