Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

If skiing doesn’t excite you, check out the Samsung Olympic Showcases instead

Lulu Chang
By

samsung olympic showcase 5
In less than 48 hours, the world’s most highly anticipated show of athletic grace and prowess will take the stage in South Korea. But it’s not just PyeongChang who is playing host — Korean tech giant Samsung is opening up its doors as well. The company is promising to bring excitement to fans, athletes, and officials alike at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games by way of “interactive experiences” that can be found at a series of Samsung Olympic Showcases. These dedicated showcases are slated to encourage visitors to “Do What You Can’t” through immersive experiences.

In total, Olympic attendees and athletes will be able to check out nine Samsung Olympic Showcases that feature an amalgamation of cultural, technological, and immersive fan experiences, all of which will leverage virtual reality technology. These showcases will be found in the Olympic parks and villages, as well as the main press center, and Incheon International Airport.

Broadly speaking, the showcases are thinly veiled PR displays — a release notes that viewers will be able to experience “the Samsung brand history and heritage in engineering, design, and craftsmanship, and then the partnership history with the Olympic Games.” Somehow, we think this will be slightly less exciting than the Olympics themselves.

Related

But then, by way of VR, nonathletes may be able to feel what it’s like to snowboard with an Olympian, or participate in alpine or cross-country skiing contests. Moreover, visitors will be able to check out the unrelated (but still cool) “Mission to Space VR: A Moon for All Mankind” created by Samsung. This will take participants on a space mission that includes a mission briefing, training suit and helmet try-on, and even some time in the Moon rig to feel lunar gravity.

“For two decades as a worldwide Olympic partner, Samsung has connected fans, visitors and athletes from around the world with our latest technological innovations, which have now evolved to also include immersive experiences,” said Younghee Lee, CMO and executive vice president of Samsung Electronics. “We’re delighted to share Samsung’s latest mobile technologies and products so fans and athletes can enjoy new, unique experiences while at the Olympic Winter Games.”

In addition to immersive VR experiences, Samsung will also be showing off the new Galaxy Note8 and S Pen, both of which will be on display quite prominently in the Portrait Pool. This experience will allow visitors to transform their selfies into paintings to share on social. The S pen will act as a paint brush, where as the Galaxy Note8 will ostensibly behave as a canvas.

And of course, Samsung would be remiss if it didn’t offer visitors an opportunity to actually buy the products they see — there will be full purchase and customer service available throughout the games so you can leave with mobile products and accessories.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
You probably won’t get Android 12’s coolest feature when it rolls out
Android 12 display screens. Credits: Android official.

With Android 12, Google debuted a whole new design language for the operating system. "Instead of Google Blue, we imagined Material You," the company said at Google I/O 2021. For a whole lot of Android 12 upgraders though, the Google blues is exactly what they're going to get when Android 12 hits.

This week, Samsung finally announced and distributed the beta for One UI 4, its take on Android 12. Shortly after, Oppo announced ColorOS 12, its own spin on Android 12. Alongside Nokia's own Android 12 Beta, these releases tell us what to expect (and what not to expect) from Android 12 when it hits the vast majority of Android phones as it rolls out through the next year.

Read more
You probably won’t see Samsung’s new 200-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S22
The Galaxy S21 Ultra from the back, held in a hand.

Samsung today announced a new camera sensor called the Isocell HP1. As the first 200-megapixel (MP) camera sensor, it will allow smartphone cameras to capture super-high-resolution images.

Samsung is also offering a new Isocell GN5, a 50MP sensor that is built around ultrafast autofocus. More interestingly, rumors have swirled about Xiaomi using a 200MP camera on the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. Unfortunately, there's almost no chance we'll see it on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, as previous leaks have indicated it's keeping the same 108MP resolution as the S21 Ultra. It's entirely possible that the following generation -- the speculative S23 series -- could take advantage of the new sensor.

Read more
Olympic medals made from recycled electronics finally get a chance to shine
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Medals

Chinese air rifle shooter Qian Yang became the first athlete to receive a gold medal at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games just hours after the first events kicked off on Saturday. She's also the first-ever athlete to receive a gold medal made from recycled electronics.

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Medals

Read more