Analysis of the Development Trend of Artificial Intelligence Technology Application in the Field of Sports-Based on Patent Measurement

The patents related to the application of AI technology in sports from 1963 to 2021 included in the Derwent patent databasewere used as the data source. With the help of the ISS platform and CiteSpace visual analysis software, the patent data were analyzed in terms of annual application volume, geographical distribution, major patent owners, and hot technologies. The study found that: after 2015, the number of patent applications proliferated. The patents are mainly distributed in the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea, with the number of patents in China and South Korea growing the most. The primary patent owners are multinational giants such as Tencent, Microsoft, and IBM. The main technology areas of patents are distributed in database application technology, computer processing of video games, gaming, sports, and training equipment, and software products. The frontier hot technology areas are concentrated in developing emerging sports and leisure projects, sports e-learning equipment development, and deep learning algorithms.