BRAZIL 2014 WORLD CUP ‘SPECIAL’

DirectIndustry takes a glance at FIFA World Cup Brasil 2014

The festivities will start with the opening ceremony followed by the first match in Sao Paulo between Brazil and Croatia. Today’s match ball will be kicked off by a paraplegic teenager wearing a mind controlled exoskeleton, we wrote about this back in January when the event seemed so far away, and now it’s here at last!The world cup is a massive event and literally thousands of companies have been involved in making sure it’s one of the best ever. The list of big industry players involved is endless, but small and medium sized companies are playing their part too.

Take for example, GoalControl-4D, who were selected to install and manage World Cup 2014’s goal-line technology. Their system is made up of 14 cameras mounted behind the goal and captures the three dimensional position of the ball – very important when you consider the goal controversies we’ve had in the past.At this year’s world cup we will also see the largest stadium LED video screen in the world; perfect for capturing those action replays. The system is designed by Traxon, a subsidiary of OSRAM, specialist in semiconductors and LEDs. It measures 37,000 square feet (3,400 m2) and is housed in the east side of the Arena Corinthians stadium in Sao Paulo.

Engineering and electronics giant Siemens will be very visible throughout this year’s tournament. They have installed much of the building technology systems in three of the 12 world cup stadiums: Mane Garrincha Stadium, Brasília; which will host seven matches, Castelão, Fortaleza; will host six matches and Arena das Dunas Stadium, Natal; will host four matches.

Did you know, 50 percent of Brazil’s electricity is generated using Siemens’ equipment?