Tech

TV’s exclusive Tokyo light show, stadium’s secret drone spectacular

Published

4 years ago

August 9, 2021

Brittany Coles

How did a stunning light display made up of tiny beads appear above the Tokyo stadium during the closing ceremony? Well, they didn’t

The closing ceremony had more than the eye can see – both as an athlete there in Tokyo arena and a home viewer.

Dazzled by dancing beads

TOKYO OLYMPICS LIGHT SHOW EXPLAINED

1,824 drones that formed the shape of the world 175m in the air stole the show at the opening ceremony.

However, Tokyo’s closing ceremony featured a stunning high-tech light show that topped off an olympics that many thought wouldn’t have gone ahead.

How did the light show come together?

Japan managed another “how did they do that” with the tech savvy light display.

However – if you were an athlete or lucky enough to be an attendee at Tokyo Stadium – you didn’t see anything.

TV v reality #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/AI2iEGQwch
— Kieran Pender (@KieranPender) August 8, 2021

what people saw live at tokyo arena

Show created just for TV viewers around the globe

This spectacle was created especially for the TV audience.

A Montreal-based company used special effects like augmented reality just for us to have a magical moment at home.

Would organisers have gone with something else for the grand finalé had there been paying spectators in the stadium?

The message from the light show rang loud and clear though as the lights swirled together to create an image of the Olympic rings in the sky.

https://twitter.com/pat_trudel/status/1424341830276108290

Towards the end of the closing ceremony, the stadium went black as the show transitioned into “the moving forward’ part of the show.

Particle of light joined to form the unmistakable Olympic Rings, a symbol that brought millions of people at home together in celebration of the world’s greatest athletes throughout the past two weeks.

“Together, these lights rise to form a luminous wave — representing the Olympic spirit that lives within us all. As these lights take flight across the stadium, we remember the many people whose contribution made the Olympics possible, both near and far, as well as those who could not be here today,” Olympic organisers said.

How did only TV viewers see this?

The light show was a production specific for television viewing.

The company behind the lights specialises in creating unique light and sound experiences using technologies such as augmented reality and mixed reality.

Other creations from Moment Factory can be remembered around the world:

https://twitter.com/MomentFactory/status/1422924486471524357

https://twitter.com/MomentFactory/status/1416399184626962441

All eyes were then on Paris as it took the torch from Tokyo

The hand over was literally out of this world, with the transition to Paris 2024 starting above earth at the International Space Station.

For the first time ever, the closing ceremony featured live events from the next host city

The live broadcast took viewers straight into the handover celebration in the streets of Paris.

Hundreds of spectators and French athletes gathered by the Eiffel Tower as part of the handover ceremony.

Special effects used to fly flag as Paris faced bad weather

The home viewer saw the Paris 2024 Olympic flag fly high from the Eiffel Tower.

Bad weather forces change of plan for Paris 2024 Handover Ceremony

This (virtually) set a world record as the largest flag ever flown — Almost the size of a football field, but hours before the ceremony organisers decided it would not be safe to go ahead.

“Sadly, the weather conditions today mean that we will not be able to proceed with our plan to raise the flag on the Eiffel Tower safely,” Paris 2024 said.

“For all those watching on screen, they will enjoy a spectacular experience in the heart of Paris, as it prepares to offer an extraordinary playground for the athletes, sport and the Games,” Paris 2024 organisers said.

There was secret drone show we didn’t see?

The official Twitter account of the Tokyo Olympics Organising Committee has shared a drone light show video that shows where the Olympic Games are headed next.

#Tokyo2020 から #Paris2024 へ…✨#オリンピック #JPN → #FRA #ドローン pic.twitter.com/O4QSSoI4R3
— Tokyo 2020 (@Tokyo2020jp) August 8, 2021

LED-equipped drones transformed into the flag of France as well as the Paris 2024 logo that combines three separate symbol.

Was this part of rehearsals or an extension of the Intel drone light show?

How did almost two thousand drones light up the sky to create a spectacular better than fireworks? the idea for a done show began down under

Looking back to the beginning, the drone show was the true highlight of the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony and arguably the blockbuster event for the entire olympics.

How Tokyo’s drone show spectacular took flight

Related Topics:drone Featured olympics tokyo tokyo2020 trending

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OpenAI completes $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion

OpenAI completes $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation, cementing status as top private company globally

Published

16 hours ago

October 2, 2025

Ahron Young

OpenAI completes $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation, cementing status as top private company globally

In Short:
– OpenAI’s $6.6 billion share sale allows employees to sell stock at a $500 billion valuation, up from $300 billion.
– The sale supports employee retention amid intense competition for AI talent without pursuing an IPO.

OpenAI has concluded a secondary share sale amounting to $6.6 billion, enabling current and former employees to sell stock at a valuation of $500 billion, as reported by Bloomberg.This valuation represents a significant increase from $300 billion earlier this year, indicating strong investor interest.

Reports indicate that OpenAI had initially authorised up to $10.3 billion for the share sale, although only about two-thirds of this was executed.

The offer was made to eligible employees who had held their shares for over two years, with participation starting in early September.

The recent share sale is OpenAI’s second significant tender offer in less than a year, following a $1.5 billion deal with SoftBank in November.

This transaction solidifies OpenAI’s position as the most valuable privately held company globally, surpassing SpaceX’s valuation of $456 billion.

Talent Competition

Intensified competition for AI talent has emerged, with companies like Meta reportedly offering substantial compensation packages to attract top researchers.

OpenAI is part of a trend among startups, including SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks, utilising secondary sales to allow employee cash-outs while remaining private.

This strategy aims to retain talent and reward long-serving employees without pursuing an IPO.

Tech

What Saudi Arabia’s role in the Electronic Arts buyout tells us about ‘game-washing’

Published

1 day ago

October 2, 2025

The Conversation

What Saudi Arabia’s role in the Electronic Arts buyout tells us about image, power and ‘game-washing’

Jacqueline Burgess, University of the Sunshine Coast

Video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA), one of the biggest video game companies in the world behind games such as The Sims and Battlefield, has been sold to a consortium of buyers for US$55 billion (about A$83 billion). It is potentially the largest-ever buyout funded by private equity firms. Not AI, nor mining or banking, but video games.

The members of the consortium include: Silver Lake Partners, an American private global equity firm focusing on technology; the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund; and the investment firm Affinity Partners, run by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of American President Donald Trump.

The consortium will purchase all of the publicly traded company’s shares, making it private. But while the consortium and EA’s shareholders will likely be celebrating – each share was valued at US$210, representing a 25% premium – it’s not all good news.

PIF acquiring EA raises concerns about possible “game-washing”, and less than ideal future business practices.

EA’s poor reputation

Video games are big business. The global video game industry is worth more than the film and music industries combined. But why would these buyers specifically want to buy EA, an entity that has won The Worst Company in America award twice?

It has been criticised for alleged poor labour practices, a focus on online gaming (even when it’s not ideal, such as in single-player stories), and a history of acquiring popular game studios and franchises and running them into the ground.

Players of some of EA’s most beloved franchises, such as The Sims, Dragon Age and Star Wars Battlefront II, believe the games have been negatively impacted due to the company meddling in production, and wanting to focus on online play and micro-transactions.

Microtransactions are small amounts of money paid to access, or potentially access, in-game items or currency. Over time, they can add up to a lot of money, and have even been linked to the creation of problem gambling behaviours. Unsurprisingly, they are not popular among players.

Current global economic stresses have affected video games and other high-tech industries. The development costs of a video game can be hundreds of millions of dollars. EA has reacted to its slowing growth by cancelling games and laying-off close to 2,000 workers since 2023. So a US$55 billion offer probably looked enticing.

Saudi Arabia’s investment spree

In recent years, the Saudi wealth fund has been on an entertainment investment splurge. Before this latest acquisition, PIF invested heavily in both golf and tennis.

It is a sponsor and official naming rights partner of both the Women’s Tennis Association rankings and the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings.

The wealth fund also helped establish the LIV Golf tour in 2022, in opposition to the Professional Golf Association (PGA). By offering huge sums of money, it was able to attract players away from the PGA. One player was reportedly offered US$125 million (A$189 million). This tactic worked; a merger was announced between LIV, the DPA (European golf tour) and the PGA (North American golf tour) in 2023, with PIF as the main funder.

PIF, via its subsidiaries, has also been acquiring stakes in other video game companies. For example, it is one of the largest shareholders in Nintendo, the developer behind Mario, and purchased Niantic (the company behind Pokémon Go) earlier this year for US$3.5 billion (A$5.3 billion)

Why does PIF want video game companies?

Live sport and video games have a few things in common: they are fun, engaging and entertaining. And being known for entertainment is good PR for a country that has been accused of human rights abuses.

PIF’s investment in sport has been called “sportswashing”: using an association with sport to counteract bad publicity and a tarnished moral reputation. Video games, with their interactivity and entertainment value, represent an opportunity for game-washing.

The fact EA owns many sports games’ franchises would also be a bonus, potentially allowing for further video game and sport collaboration. And the fact the video game industry is projected to keep growing globally makes it a good investment for an oil-rich nation looking to economically diversify.

Beyond game-washing concerns, we also need to pay attention to the type of buyout happening here. This is a “leveraged” buyout, meaning part of the purchase price – in this case US$20 billion (A$30 billion) – is funded as debt taken on by the company. So once the acquisition is complete, EA will have US$20 billion of new debt.

With all that new debt to service, it would only be natural to have concerns about more lay-offs, cost-cutting and increasing monetisation via strategies such as microtransactions. Ultimately, this would result in a poorer experience for players. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Jacqueline Burgess, Lecturer in International Business, University of the Sunshine Coast

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Tech

80% of ransomware victims pay ransom, says report

Hiscox report reveals 80% of ransomware victims pay ransom, but only 60% recover data successfully

Published

2 days ago

October 1, 2025

ticker NEWS

Hiscox report reveals 80% of ransomware victims pay ransom, but only 60% recover data successfully

In Short:
– Cyber attacks increasingly target businesses, with 80% of ransomware victims opting to pay ransoms.
– SMEs are often affected, with only 60% recovering data after paying ransoms amidst rising cyber insurance costs.

Cyber attacks are increasingly targeting sensitive business data, with many companies paying ransoms. A report from Hiscox indicates that 80% of businesses affected by ransomware over the past year opted to pay.The annual Cyber Readiness Report highlights a concerning trend in ransomware attacks against well-known companies, including Marks and Spencer, the Co-op, and Jaguar Land Rover.

The latter recently received a £1.5bn government loan guarantee aimed at protecting its supply chain, which includes numerous small firms.

Many victims of cyber attacks are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often require assistance to recover. Hiscox reported that while 27% of the surveyed 5,750 SMEs faced ransomware attacks, only 60% that paid the ransom managed to recover their data.

Impact on Firms

The broader findings revealed that nearly 60% experienced some form of cyber attack, with numerous businesses attributing their vulnerabilities to artificial intelligence.

Companies face not only financial repercussions, including fines and lost revenue, but also damage to their reputations. Eddie Lamb of Hiscox warned against underestimating the severe consequences of cyber attacks on all business sizes.

Jaguar Land Rover was reportedly finalising cyber insurance when it was attacked, incurring significant losses. Industry experts note that the rising costs of comprehensive cyber insurance policies may leave many firms unprotected. The cyber insurance market is growing, responding to the high-profile impacts experienced by businesses like M&S, which anticipates recovering losses through insurance after its own ransomware incident.