Chongqing- Artificial intelligence (AI) weather forecasting, air disinfection machines, and volunteers from Chongqing are all featured at the Beijing Winter Olympics, including Wang Qiang, a cross-country skier and a Chongqing local.

AI weather forecasting

"Compared to the Summer Olympic Games, the Winter Olympic Games are more dependent on meteorological conditions," said Dr. Zhou Ruilin, a researcher at the Intelligent Consultation and Artificial Intelligence Weather Forecasting Laboratory of the Peking University Chongqing Big Data Research Institute. "Because the outdoor competition environment is more complex, it is more difficult to forecast the meteorological elements that might affect the event."

She continued that for the Olympic athletes to play well on the field, a higher level of refinement in forecasting is required, even to the 100-meter and minute-level.

Therefore, Zhou and her research team have introduced an AI technology and developed a model called MOML.

Due to their innate advantage in merging and processing information, AI algorithms can, to a certain extent, replace the forecaster's process of integrating and analyzing information in weather consultation.

Through data mining and learning, AI algorithms can internalize the forecaster's experience in the algorithm to achieve intelligent and efficient weather forecasting.

The MOML algorithm has made a breakthrough in forecasting weather elements such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, and direction, which helps forecasters significantly reduce their workload and improves the accuracy of forecasts by more than 10% compared to conventional methods.

Air disinfection machines

Chongqing Acoustics-Optics-Electronics Co. Ltd. of China Electronics Technology Group Corp. helps combat COVID-19 at the Winter Olympic Games by providing 100,000 air disinfection machines.

The disinfection machine offered by the company uses water and air as raw materials. It produces natural superparticles such as negative oxygen ions and hydroxyl radicals through innovative methods, which are highly effective against more than ten types of viruses and bacteria, including the coronavirus.

In particular, the machines can kill up to 99.99% of coronaviruses on the surface of objects in a relatively short time.

"These air disinfection machines are used in hospitals, airports, customs, and exit and entry border inspection stations associated with the Winter Olympics, contributing to the epidemic prevention for the event," said the company's director.

Volunteers from Chongqing

In addition, Wang Yuyan and Zheng Shuyue from Chongqing are involved in the Winter Olympics as volunteers, providing volunteer services to athletes and media from worldwide.

As a sophomore majoring in Arts Management at the China Conservatory of Music, Wang worked as a volunteer in the public area of the Beijing Olympic Park during the Winter Olympics.

Unlike volunteers at individual venues, the public area of the Olympic Park is one of the venues with the longest-running period, the widest service range, and the largest number of volunteers for the Winter Olympic Games.

"This means that I will be volunteering for more than ten venues and supporting services such as the National Stadium (Bird's Nest), National Aquatics Center (Ice Cube), National Indoor Stadium, and Beijing Winter Olympics Awards Plaza," said Wang Yuyan. "I hope that my service will make the audience feel the charm of the Beijing Winter Olympics."

Meanwhile, Zheng serves the spectators and media who watch the games at the National Stadium during the Winter Olympics.

(Shi Jiaqi, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)