The World Archery Federation brought augmented archery to the attention in one of their news items on technology, describing it as “a system for automatic scoring for indoor archery – which combined with projectors and a large foam wall to create an exciting new format for the sport”. While augmented archery definitely has the potential to develop into a virtual sport (i.e. game with institutionalised and rule-governed competitions), it appears to remain underutilised in that sense and used as a sort of exergame in archery. As the technology develops, opportunities arise to integrate different game modes and mini competitions into a new format or discipline of archery that can be played competitively.

Smart Hoops present an interesting technology to develop a virtual sports format of basketball. While it is currently designed for and used as an exergaming tool, one could imagine a new discipline of basketball that integrates the dynamics, features and game elements of smart hoops. While the technology might need some additional development for such purposes (e.g. adding LEDs or screens), it could equally be different technology such as augmented/LED-projected playing fields that is used to develop virtual basketball formats, or a combination of both.

Virtual Biathlon is technically possible, yet I sense it is not widely known to exist and adopted by individuals or organisations. The existing simulators seem decently mimic the required skills from biathlon, though not much info cna be found on rule-governed and institutionalised competitions. Some platforms offer competition mode in 1v1, but not online through a connected virtual platform like Zwift for cycling. Also the International Biathlon Union has developed an eCup Tournament through the Winter Sports Mania App, no developments have been made into virtual biathlon. I assume most virtual biathlon setups are currently used for (elite) individual training-related purposes at home, or offered as an exergame such as in the sport entertainment park Sparkx. In other words, there definitely lie some opportunities ahead.

Augmented Climbing appears to be in its infancy in terms of use cases, though technologically well-developed. LED Holds or LED Projections would allow for much more than performance or training-related use cases. Regular trainings can be gamified, games can be played within the training, or even legitimate disciplines in sports climbing could be designed using this technology.

Virtual cycling is one of the most mature and adopted virtual sports. Many people use virtual cycling platforms for leisure. However, online competitive racing has become popular at all levels, also with prize money available across all levels (e.g. Sunday Race club). At elite level, UCI has legitimised virtual cycling under its respective discipline and World Championship Cycling Esports. Also the IOC has shown interest in virtual cycling by including it in its previous esports events (e.g. 2021 Olympic Virtual Series, 2023 Olympic Esports Week) and by including in in the 2027 Olympic Esports Games. Exemplary events are Sunday Race Club, Zwift Racing League. Because of the increased attention on racing and elite-level events, I feel that virtual cycling is now leaning more towards esports than exergames.

Rhythm dancing games have existed for decades and are not new. They have been usually played in entertainment parks or at home, depending on the required technology and equipment. There appears to be a development in legitimising virtual dancing games as a sports competition. From 2014 tot 2019 there was the Just Dance World Cup, and in 2023 it was hosted in the Olympic eSports Series. Smaller esports competitions also exist, like the Belgian Student Championship Just Dance. At time of writing, no global (e)sports competitions of virtual dancing games exist, which might have an effect on its possible inclusion in the 2027 Olympic eSports Games. Hence, plenty of opportunities ahead to organise such competitions.

HADO calls themselves the " first-ever physical esport in the world ". The sport originated in Japan in 2014 and has since expanded almost worldwide. There appears to be organised competition, with the HADO World Cup tournament handing our a ‘world champion title’. The league is co-organised by the Shanghai esports association, but the World Dodgeball Federation (WDF) seems not to be involved. HADO can only be played in specific arenas, for example one as provided by Flanders’ governmental sport agency. Therefore, accessibility still remains limited compared to some other sports.

LED Pods and plates are one way to augment a football pitch, allowing to create new dynamics in regular football games. For now, it appears to be mainly used for performance-related goals. However, hedonic related goals such as fun and experience can also be a possible approach. Want to add some gamification elements in a training? Adapt your training session (e.g. speed) to a specific target audience such as impaired or young people? LED Pods seem like a promising tool for that. While it is currently hard to imagine how this could evolve to a (‘virtual’) subdiscipline within football, I am convinced that augmentation of the pitch is the way to go.

Golf simulators have come a long way. In fact, the most advanced currently present a neat hybrid of physical and virtual environments to swing some golf balls into, which is able to attract big names in the sport of golf. The TGL SoFi golf competition is a prime example of this. The International Golf Federation (IGF) is involved in these competitions, indicating virtual golf’s relevance for the future Olympic esports games. IGF recognises virtual golfs’ potential to attract "younger and non-traditional golfers”, but I equally see potential to overcome sustainable or environmental challenges golf is facing.

LED Pods can augment a hockey pitch, making room for new training practices but also new competitions. The main use case of SmartGoals seems to be within performance-related training aspects. However, one could equally use it to make the hockey training more fun, or inclusive by being able to adapt drills to the persons abilities. I wonder what the virtual sports discipline of Hockey might look like, but interactive and augmented reality hockey pitches might definitely be one way to achieve such discipline. To date, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) is not known to seek into any of this.

Virtual rowing is, similarly to virtual cycling, a booming virtual discipline in sports. Multiple virtual platforms and ergometers exist making it relatively accessible - though still expensive. Also rule-governed and legitimised competitions exist, such as the World Rowing Virtual Indoor Sprints which is a mass-participation online competition from Concept2 and World Rowing. However, the scene of rowing is still quite unique. While multiple online platforms exist for virtual rowing, the Indoor rowing competitions by World Rowing are still organised without any of such platforms. This might be because indoor rowing competitions existed for far longer than these virtual platforms. Since these platforms are starting to offer Competition Mode (e.g. EXR), I think we will shortly see governed virtual rowing competitions on one of these platforms, following the footsteps of virtual cycling. This would also make it very suitable to be hosted in the 2027 Olympic Esports Games.

Augmented table tennis is technically very developed and mainly used for competitive training-related purposes. Some cases exist where it is used to leisure and entertainment (e.g. Bounce Ping Pong), but these setups are less accessible and available compared to, for example, FastPong. Augmented table tennis through LED plates added on top of a table are designed to be played on by 1 player only (e.g. for training with a robot), as the equipment does not allow the ball to bounce as one would expect from the table, which makes match impossible. However, LED projections have to potential to feature augmented table tennis matches. It would allow to create some unique competition modes or disciplines as the playing field is made interactive (e.g. moving area where the ball can be played for both players, adding difficulty to their match). At the time of writing, no such hardware or software providers exist, and no competitions are played with augmented table tennis. Here as well, some opportunities exist to develop a digital or augmented discipline of table tennis.

Virtual Taekwondo is the only virtual sports that relies on virtual reality in this list (though other VR sports exist like VR table tennis and VR tennis, which maybe should be added as well to this overview?). It was featured in the 2023 Olympic Esports Week and provided an “even playing field for those of all physical abilities”. In 2024, World Taekwondo announced to host the inaugural Virtual Championships in Taekwondo in collaboration with VTKD, which could have even served as potential qualification pathway to the Olympic Esports Games. Apart from the competition, the virtual discipline can allow for a barrier-reduced and fun sport - apart from the initial investment in equipment of course.

Virtual Triathlon consist of a non-virtual swim in a pool, followed by a virtual bike and run leg using smart equipment and virtual cycling/running platforms. The major (private) organiser of virtual triathlon’s is Supertri, having hosted SupertriE races (Originally named Arena Games Triathlon) since 2020. In 2022, a partnership with World Triathlon was established and the first ‘Esports Triathlon World Championship’ was held. The virtual events remain scarce however compared to other virtual competitions such as virtual cycling (e.g. 1/year vs. 1/week), likely because these races can only be held in-person as swimming infrastructure but also specific smart equipment (e.g. calibrated treadmills) are needed, making it more complex overall. Also the IOC has shown interest in virtual triathlon by including it in its previous esports events (e.g. 2021 Olympic Virtual Series, 2023 Olympic Esports Week) and by including in in the 2027 Olympic Esports Games. Because virtual triathlon races are rarely held at non-elite level, this discipline leans more towards esports than exergames I feel.