Smart Stadia as Testbeds for Smart Cities: Enriching Fan Experiences and Improving Accessibility

Rapid urbanization is introducing a variety of challenges for municipalities. Technologically-enabled 'Smart Cities' are rising to meet these needs, which include smarter sustainability, cybersecurity, transportation, waste management, energy efficiency, education, among many other areas, all toward enhancing the quality of life of citizens. These cities leverage the capabilities of Internet of Things (IoT) technology and the service economy to infuse sensing and information delivery into everyday life through the power of data analytics and artificial intelligence. However, the size of a city and its population make it difficult to evaluate smart solutions. In this work, the 'Smart Stadium' is proposed as a testbed to trial Smart City technologies in an environment small enough to facilitate user trials yet large enough to produce scalable outcomes. Our previous proof-of-concepts are summarized to highlight the potential of this approach. We also present a more recent project on accessibility and inclusion using virtual reality with preliminary results.