Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung-ryul) and its Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation (Director Lee In-hyung) have successfully completed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's “Sports Industry Innovation Infrastructure Development (R&D) Project” in collaboration with Sports2i (CEO Kim Bong-joon) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST).

The project, which ran from July 2021 to December 2024, aimed to develop technology for managing athletes' training and competition data and enhancing performance through AI-based solutions. The research team developed software technology that enables athletes and coaches in volleyball, basketball, and baseball to manage and analyze training and competition data using AI. The results will be used as tools to improve performance, including the development of customized training programs for individual athletes, and are expected to contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of national sports teams.

Meanwhile, the consortium consisting of three institutions, including Kookmin University (lead institution: Sports2i), achieved the highest level of technology readiness level (TRL) 9 as the final result of this project. Additionally, the consortium has achieved various accomplishments across scientific, technical, economic, and social fields, including ▲5 academic papers, ▲7 academic conference presentations, ▲15 patent applications, ▲8 software copyrights, and ▲7 media reports. Notably, based on the enhanced technological competitiveness demonstrated during the project, the consortium was recently selected as the preferred negotiation partner for the “AI Video Review Technology Development” initiative being pursued by the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO).

Professor Won-Jae Lee of the Department of Sports Industry and Leisure, who is the research director at Kookmin University, said, “The industry-academia-research consortium formed through this project will collaborate in various ways for commercialization and additional research and development in the future. Kookmin University will take the lead in leading technological innovation in the sports industry not only domestically but also internationally.”

Meanwhile, the National University Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation developed a new system by significantly improving the performance and reliability of existing electronic judgment systems through enhanced strike detection sensors, proximity detection sensors, and wireless communication technology. This system was utilized for the electronic judgment system in the taekwondo events at the 2024 Paris Olympics.