Visitors to a unique new exhibition in Budapest developed in co-operation with 49 top Hungarian athletes and Budapest 2024, will have the chance to compete, virtually, in Olympic sport events. “The Champion” is a state of the art virtual reality experience that reportedly uses the most modern technology to transport each person on to the field of play to understand how it feels to take part in elite sport.
The event is being leveraged to build support for Budapest’s bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and demonstrate the technological capabilities available in Hungary.
The exhibition combines the colourful worlds of fun parks and sport science to allow anybody from the age of 8 to 99 to test their skills in more than 20 interactive sports games.
From boxing to rafting, from javelin to fencing, they can test their skills at a range of Olympic sports and also spend two minutes through virtual reality as part of the national football team playing at Euro 2016.
Visitors can also explore a large collection of sport artifacts, and learn about the science and discipline behind elite sports such as the diet of swimmer Michael Phelps or the training schedule of an Olympic athlete.
Visitors can also measure their performance using NFC bracelet which records all their points, results and goals, and at the end provides a personalized evaluation.
Tibor Benedek, Hungary’s three times Olympic champion in water polo and the main patron of the exhibition says, “it’s our common responsibility to provide our children the possibility to have a sport and healthy life.
“These kind(s) of exhibitions can help a lot to bring more young people into sport, and the possibility of an Olympic Games in Budapest can also help a lot. Who knows, maybe a child will find the sport of his or her dreams here, and be an athlete at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Budapest.”
The high tech installations also include cinematic wall-projections, occasionally in stereoscopic, 3D slow motion, and multi-layer real 3D holographic experience.
A poll released by Budapest 2024 earlier in the week shows 63 per cent support the bid, an increase from six months ago, just before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August. On Thursday a group opposing the Olympic bid began to collect signatures in an attempt to force a referendum over the Games. They’ll need to collect 138,000 signatures from city residents over thirty days to confirm the vote.
Budapest is competing with Los Angeles and Paris to host the 2024 Olympics. The host city will be selected September 13 in Lima, Peru by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
