宝马终极利器亮相伦敦奥运会

    埃文斯还记得，以前要看自己游泳的回放录像，就必须坐在池边，拿着便携摄像机在恰当的时刻按暂停键，再不停地按倒带和快进键，这个过程往往弄得人精疲力竭。克莱则说，他以前每次练习跑步之后额处境也差不多，上届北京奥运会时也还得这样。而现在，克莱表示：“有了这项技术，我们的成绩提高就毫无限制了。它会改变整个运动界。”

    一家德国豪华车厂商却为自己赞助的运动员提供新型摄像技术，这听起来有点让人诧异，但威利士认为其实不必对此感到奇怪。他说：“我们是一家工程技术类公司。我们将长期支持运动员提高成绩，至少到2016年前我们都会坚持这么做。”实际上，在伦敦奥运会期间，宝马将在北美进行有史以来最大规模的媒体投放。

    威利士称，宝马还在为其汽车开发更复杂的行人侦测技术。目前各大汽车品牌的新车品质都在大幅提高，问及在这样的背景下，宝马如何持续保持竞争力时，他说：“我们只需要保持原创，并始终确保我们的车是终极座驾就行。”不过，从长期来看，全力以赴开展一场让人印象深刻的奥运会赞助活动是否能让用户对“终极座驾”增加额外的好感，还有待观察。

    译者：清远

    Evans recalls that in the past, to watch the replay of a lap, she'd have to sit on the side with a handheld camera and push pause at just the right moment, constantly hitting rewind and fast-forward in frustration. Clay says he would end up in a similar position after his practice runs, even as recently as the last Summer Games in Beijing. Now, Clay says, "The sky's the limit with this technology. It could change the world of sports."

    If it sounds surprising that a German luxury carmaker is offering its sponsored athletes new camera technology, Willisch insists that it shouldn't be. "We're an engineering company," he says. "We're in this for the long-term; we'll be doing this until at least 2016." Indeed, BMW's biggest media buy ever in North America will air during the London Games.

    Willisch says BMW is also working on more sophisticated pedestrian detection for its vehicles. And when asked about how BMW can continue to compete when there has been an increase in quality of new cars across the board, he responds, "We just have to stay authentic and always ensure that it's the ultimate driving machine." Whether pulling out all the stops for an impressive Olympic sponsorship indeed curries extra favor for the "ultimate driving machine," in the long run, remains to be seen.