In the middle of the multisport gymnasium, the dancers rehearse their choreography. Each of their movements is filmed in real time by the eleven cameras installed above their heads and recorded by a GPS system. Their dance can be viewed from different angles live or recorded, to allow them to correct their technique and improve their performance. A giant screen, 280-seat stands, electrochromic windows (smart glazing), a sound system and a climbing wall with connected sockets complete the modern gymnasium.
The new Smart building (Sport movement ambition research technology), designed by GPAA Architecture and open since February after two years of work, was inaugurated this Tuesday, April 30, on the campus of the University of Bordeaux, in Pessac, opposite the Staps (Sciences and techniques of physical and sporting activities). 4,200 square meters of sports equipment, mainly for Staps students, but also science students. This new infrastructure, which cost 13.6 million euros (co-financed as part of the Campus Operation by the State, Bordeaux Métropole, the Region and the University of Bordeaux), is “a platform which brings together sport , research, innovation and campus life,” rejoices Julien Morlier, director of Smart. “The goal is to better understand human and sporting motor skills,” he explains.
The building cost 13.6 million euros in total.
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Biomechanical analysis sensors
Right next to the 1,600 square meter gymnasium, in the research room, Tanguy, a Staps master’s student in engineering and ergonomics of physical activity, shoots basketball hoops. Dozens of markers are attached to his body and transmit all his movements and muscular activity to around forty biomechanical analysis sensors hung from the ceiling.
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The research room allows you to collect more in-depth statistics on athletes.
With his connected glasses, the young athlete can aim for the basket thanks to a virtual red circle which tells him where to shoot. What he sees is broadcast live on a screen. On the other side of the room, behind glass, Lola, her friend from Staps, analyzes the movements live on the computer screen. “There, it’s Tanguy modeled in 3D. The software can calculate the joint angle of his elbow when he pulls, for example,” she shows.
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Lola can analyze Tanguy’s movements using special software.
Upstairs, the digital collaboration room, equipped with touch screens designed by the Bordeaux company Immersion, allows the recorded data to be translated to make it more comprehensive and visual. This central location, placed at the top of the stand, allows training strategies to be developed and athletes’ decision-making to be analyzed. “We want to make them actors in their performance,” comments Julien Morlier.
Thierry David/SO
The digital collaboration room allows you to visualize data, analyze statistics and establish strategies.
In addition to the gymnasium and the research room, the Smart has two dance rooms, a physical preparation room, a laboratory, a golf simulator and space to accommodate an on-site doctor and physiotherapist. It is one of the few in France (along with the Technosport in Marseille) and the only building in the region with such a surface area to bring together sport, research and innovation in the same place.
