Digital Platform and System Construction: On Specifics, Evolution, and IT Architectures in Sports and Rehabilitation

An ongoing and advancing digitalization, with ever more and increasingly affordable tools, is now generating a continuous stream of innovation in the fields of health, rehabilitation, prevention, and elite sports. These developments enable the evolution of existing paradigms and, in certain subfields, the creation of new approaches within sports and health sciences. Due to the dynamic and specific nature of the variants and game forms, a comprehensive and complete scientific taxonomy is, of course, still in flux; however, a pragmatic categorization according to professional complexity, technical architecture, and degree of digitalization is possible. Many of these new systems are highly specialized hardware/software applications that interact via integrated sensors and/or control elements and offer numerous simple interaction and feedback options. The experimental experiences gained from these are of lasting value in research and development. Despite the already far-reaching potential of existing commercial sensors, the specific nature of certain sports science applications requires the development of specialized devices, systems, and platforms. Rarely, for example, does one sport inherit from another. The useful integration of new technologies into a sport requires not only a solid technical foundation but also well-founded sports science concepts for each case. Here, user-friendliness and acceptance are, among others, obvious central factors. Evolvability and upward compatibility are as well. This chapter systematically examines these issues and, using concrete examples, illustrates the state of the art as well as research and development in the field of sports digitalization and its innovation effects. The aim is to convey an understanding of the realistic feasibility and implementation complexity of digital systems in sports, as well as to delineate the actual achievable effects in both grassroots and elite sports. To this end, examples of highly specific sports and health applications are presented, an attempt at a rough taxonomy is made, and the organic expansion of a specific product into a large platform is described.