Audiology and Olympic Games: sound assisted swimming competition

When Phelps won 23 gold medals in the 2016 Rio Olympics, people began to have a great interest in the legendary athlete, wondering how he achieved the secret of rewriting the history of Olympic swimming! At the same time, they were wondering whether the swimming champion would continue to improve. German researchers have developed a new sound system that will allow Phelps and other swimmers to swim faster, chinaaudiology.com has learned. Researchers at Citec, the University of Bilefield, have announced that they have developed a “auditory swimming” system that can help swimmers improve their swimming skills. According to China audiology network in Europe, this system can expand the perception range of athletes. Athletes will hear the water pressure flowing through their bodies in real time, so as to change the way of sports and improve their performance. Swimmers can improve their swimming skills in this way, so as to gain the advantage that other people do not have, that is, to monitor swimming by listening.

The new system is featured on research TV at the University of field: all athletes will see the movements of their hands and feel the water sliding over them, which helps them understand their movement speed. However, after receiving auditory training, swimmers will get more information about speed and agility when they swim.

“Most swimmers ignore a very important factor: the pressure of the water flow around the body changes.” Said Dr. Thomas Herman of Citec. The acoustics researcher is working on how to turn data into sound for the benefit of those who hear it. This technology is called “auralization”, a process of systematically transforming precise data into audible sound and noise. “In this project, we use water pressure as a data source,” said Herman, director of Citec’s environmental intelligence research group. “We turn the change of water pressure in swimming into sound in real time, and then play it through the headphones worn by athletes, so that they can change the way they move based on the information they hear.”

For the swimming audibility research project, Herman is working with Dr. Bodo ugenlech from the Department of psychology and sports science. As a biomechanist, wugelezhi mainly studies how human beings control their own way of movement, especially when swimming.

“If a swimmer can ‘hear’ the changes in water pressure, he can make better judgments, such as how to generate more momentum at a similar energy consumption,” said ugenzi. “This system allows swimmers to have more ways to sense their own movement in the water.”

Wugelezhi also tested the auditory system of swimming. “I’m surprised that the auditory system responds well to the flow of water,” he said, adding that the system is easy to understand. “Immediately after the start of the play, you will hear the sound, including the sound produced by extending your hand or changing the position of your hand. This system will bring new training methods to the athletes. ”

The system could help swimmers develop a harmony or melody that corresponds to their highest skill, according to uganlezhi. For example, if a swimmer completes a turn back at high speed, he can use the melody generated by swimming to imagine and review the successful turn back. This kind of spiritual training may make swimmers get good results in the competition. A field test was held in September 2015, and professional athletes confirmed after the test that the system could improve their swimming skills.

“Our ears are very good at recognizing rhythm and rhythm changes, in this way, swimmers can find their own rhythm and improve their swimming skills through this rhythm.” Thomas Herman said.

The swimming auditory system consists of two gloves with a thin tube sleeve fixed between the fingers to sense pressure. Athletes need to wear gloves when training. The tube sleeve is connected with a measuring device, which is connected with the athlete through a data line when swimming. The measurement device transmits the data related to the water flow pressure to a notebook computer, and a specially customized software will auditory the data – transform the information into sound. “For example, for repetitive hand movements, the system can translate the pressure of rising and falling water into rising or falling pitches,” Herman said. Other auditory settings, such as symmetry and stability, can also be activated if needed.

Sound is transmitted to swimmers in real time through headphones. When an athlete adjusts an action, he will hear the subsequent sound changes in real time. Through the auditory system of water pressure, swimmers can try different swimming postures and make corresponding adjustments. Because the coach also hears the sound through the speakers, it’s not only through observation, but also through the voice and rhythm produced by the athletes (such as “wave your arm so that the pitch can rise quickly”).

Herman and ugenzi are working with Professor Daniel chisherini, a researcher in the Department of information engineering at the University of Pisa in Italy, who has developed a measuring device for analyzing flow pressure data. The researchers want to continue to refine the existing original model, and they are working on an independent system for swimmers to wear. According to the researchers’ plan, they will work with the swimming club to apply the new auditory system to long-term training programs.