As the Winter Olympics get under way, in true Japanese style these games have already outdone all others in testing the latest technological advances. They include hi-tech security systems and the smallest mobile phone in the world.

Spectators in Nagano can relive glorious sporting moments from the past through a video-on-demand system.

Video-on-demand: reliving great sporting moments in history

Terminals are located at all the Olympic sites, and for the first time there will be live coverage of all the events when the games begin.

"I think what we're seeing is leaps and bounds every time we enter a new phase of Olympics, whether it's winter games or summer games," says computer giant IBM's Alfonso Dell'Aglio.

Skiing and other events will be shown live on special terminals

Japan's strict gun laws mean security for the biathlon events will be tighter than ever before. A new system will check the identity of athletes by their iris.

Competitors will be photographed digitally and the data stored on computer.

It will then be matched against the real thing on a terminal at the security gate.

The athlete has to punch in a secret code before the door to the guns will open.

"It's easy to fake cards and find out ID numbers but you can't copy another person's iris," said Mitsuyoshi Tsukada of Oki Electric Corp which delevoped the system.

Images of athletes' eyes will be stored for security purposes

Also unique to the Nagano Olympics will be the world's smallest mobile phone.

It comes as a wristwatch or pendant and uses voice recognition to dial the numbers. A speaker means there is no need to hold the phone to your ear.

"Once again Japan has come up with the smallest version of a product," boasted Seishi Kinohara of Nippon Telephone and Telegraphs.

"Japan is famous for smallest, thinnest, shortest in everything - the Japanese are good at compact products."

The Nagano Olympics are indeed a showcase for state-of-the-art technology which could soon become part of our everyday lives.
 

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