[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6418\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EHigh-tech grass helping shape Euro 2016\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHeavy rain at the start of the championships made it hard for newly laid grass at stadiums in Lille and Marseille to take root, leading to problems during matches.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, four out of the 10 pitches taking part in the tournament \u2013 Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux and Toulouse \u2013 have been laid with high-tech grass, known as AirFibr, and are performing very well.\u003Cdiv class=\u0022text-center bg-bluelightest p-12 my-12 -mx-16\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch3 class=\u0022font-sans font-bold text-blue uppercase text-lg mb-8\u0022\u003EThe Issue\u003C\/h3\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022inline-block w-1\/6 h-1 bg-blue mb-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp\u003EThe EU has allocated EUR 3 billion for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as part of Horizon 2020, its research funding programme running from 2014 to 2020.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis money is available through its \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/programmes\/horizon2020\/en\/h2020-section\/sme-instrument\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESME Instrument\u003C\/a\u003E, which has been specifically designed to help high-potential SMEs develop products that can compete internationally, generating European jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe money is available to individual entrepreneurs and companies, unlike much EU research funding which is given out to international consortiums.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology is one of a number of innovations that are improving the experience of fans, players and European businesses during the four-yearly competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAirFibr is made of normal grass, except the roots are embedded in synthetic fibres rather than soil, while extra-fine silica sand allows drainage without getting muddy so the pitch never gets flooded or dried out.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe radical new turf, which is also being used at the Arsenal training centre in the UK and by Real Madrid in Spain, is much easier on players\u2019 ankles and knees than normal earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECompressed cork is used as an organic shock absorber, so that as players run, the air is squeezed out of the cork, cushioning the impact before springing back into shape so the terrain never degrades.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETests conducted by Natural Grass, the company behind AirFibr, have shown it has a big impact on in-game injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E40 %\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018When people perform sports on AirFibr the soil is able to absorb the energy of the shock and hence protect the athletes,\u2019 said Dr Sylvain Massip, coordinator of the ScalinGreen project which is using EU funds to help the company scale up AirFibr.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo confirm their design, the team conducted tests with players, noting the force applied as they performed various manoeuvres on the pitch, and found they received 40 % less impact on their body when playing on the grass.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@aligncenter-margin10@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Running on compressed cork absorbs shock and could help to reduce in-game injuries. Image credit: Natural Grass\u0022 height=\u0022400\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Grass%20tests.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Running on compressed cork absorbs shock and could help to reduce in-game injuries. Image credit: Natural Grass\u0022 width=\u0022910\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022italic mb-4\u0022\u003ERunning on compressed cork absorbs shock and could help to reduce in-game injuries. Image credit: Natural Grass\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology also enables grass to be durable enough for both football and rugby\u0026nbsp;games to be played on the same pitch.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018That\u2019s obviously very interesting for everybody because building and maintaining a second stadium when you have a second team is very costly,\u2019 explained Dr Massip.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother innovation that\u2019s helping European sports businesses to become more competitive is enabling pitch-side adverts to be digitally replaced by TV camera technology, allowing them to be targeted by region.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The viewer on the screen at the end really knows no different but the messaging that is being delivered is much more relevant,\u2019 said Charlie Marshall, chief operating officer of Supponor, the company developing the technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocal products\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo ensure all sponsors enjoy an equal level of exposure, the technology, known as DBRLive, digitally renders advertisements across any board captured on camera. This technology can also allow boards to advertise products for specific local, national or regional audiences in real time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Advertisers or sponsors who would be out of their budget and out of their scope to strike global deals with Barcelona FC, can still associate themselves with Barcelona by having 10 minutes of inventory on the pitch perimeter targeted at particular audiences,\u2019 said Marshall.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt works by adding a component to TV cameras that can split different light sources, visible and invisible infrared light. The infrared light can be picked up by special detectors and the data used to make the technology work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe camera uses the technology to detect advertising boards that have different light properties to their surrounding environment. These boards can later be digitally replaced by virtual advertisements using Supponor\u2019s technology.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003E\u2018The messaging that is being targeted is much more relevant.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003ECharlie Marshall, Chief Operating Officer, Supponor\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis sometimes means placing a transparent film onto the board which can absorb and emit the required infrared light, while at other times existing electronics in the boards are adapted to create the same effect.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technology has been in use in the Spanish La Liga football first division for a number of years, and now the company is aiming to launch their technology for other high-profile tournaments helped by an EU-funded scaling-up project, also called DBRLive, in order to eventually become the de facto means of delivering signage for these types of events, says Marshall.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEvacuations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring major matches like those happening across France this summer, thousands of supporters often fill every seat available in stadiums. With so many people in such a confined space, safety is a priority for organisers. The eVACUATE project is ushering in new technologies to improve evacuations at the individual, group, and crowd level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In principle we are dealing with several domains,\u2019 said project coordinator Dr Dimitris Petrantonakis of the National Technical University of Athens, Greece.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project is conducting in-depth analysis into crowd psychology to model how crowds react during an emergency, thus preventing bottlenecks and other problems encountered during evacuations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is a very direct impact in the way the people around us are (behaving) during a crisis,\u2019 said Dr Petrantonakis. \u2018If there is a group of people that is trying to exit a stadium from a specific location, we have seen that this affects the behaviour and the way the rest of the people are also reacting.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis leads to a situation whereby people follow a crowd on blind faith, thinking they know where the exit is, leading to bottlenecks and potentially a highly delayed evacuation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead, eVACUATE is developing tools to thin out crowd evacuations and put control into individuals\u2019 hands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis involves installing cameras with better imaging to see through smoke or sourcing information from social media to give evacuators real-time information on developments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is also developing an app to provide people with their specific location and directions to the nearest safe location.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven \u2018static information\u2019 is being re-examined. As Dr Petrantonakis explains, standard exit signs can be adapted to provide more dynamic information. Instead of having regular green exit signs, they could flash red to indicate that an obstacle is ahead, or airport departure screens can broadcast evacuation protocols.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFinally the project is looking at chips which can be embedded onto tickets to help account for people who have been evacuated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018It\u2019s a variety of different systems that we\u2019re trying to exploit and all this to be merged under a unique umbrella which is the one eVACUATE has been (developing),\u2019 said Dr Petrantonakis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project is now focusing on putting their research to the test with a full demo exercise in September. Based at San Sebastian, Spain, the project will use volunteers to recreate an evacuation procedure and see if their technology can provide an integrated \u2013 and someday life-saving \u2013 solution.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n            \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n      Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-xri1ci6ach6-uxz00nzbrx9tjkmlowh4gsob6yta1wi\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-XRi1ci6AcH6-uxz00nzBRX9TjkmlOwh4gsob6Yta1WI\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]