Google brought the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games closer to the region’s 650 million people through live updates on the matches, scores, and tallies, including the latest trends across the 40 sports played in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Among the sports included this year was esports. This is the second time it has been included as a medal event in a multi-sport competition sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee after the Olympic Virtual Series–a lead-up event to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
The esports event covered eight games and ten events with Vietnam bagging 4 golds while Indonesia and the Philippines came home with 2 golds each.
While the majority of this year’s audience cheered their teams online, some were able to travel as quarantine restrictions eased in Southeast Asia. Here are some of the ways Google provided digital tools and
experiences to help both online and on-site audiences enjoy the Games from wherever they are:
Live updates with a dash of AR on Google Search
The latest information on events, sports and players, country rankings, and medal tallies were made available on Google Search. As a tribute to where the Games were held this year, people who searched on their phones were treated to a 3D AR version of the Saola — one of the world’s rarest large mammals native to Vietnam.
A dedicated SEA Games Trends page was also put up for fans of sporting trends where Search stats on favorite moments were made visible. This was made available for six countries including the Philippines, along with a deeper focus on seven sports: badminton, basketball, chess, football, taekwondo, swimming and esports.
All the action live on YouTube
Live events, clips and highlights from official SEA Games broadcasters were made available on their respective YouTube channels. A YouTube SEA Games Playlist included live feeds from local broadcasters including the Philippines’ TV5.
Ask Google Assistant for updates
Missed the Games? Just ask Google Assistant for updates whether you’re using your phone, speaker, TV or other enabled device — Google Assistant will have all the important details.
Vietnam virtual tours with Google Arts & Culture
If you were not able to experience the Games in real life, you can still take a virtual tour of the host country with 37 new exhibits in Google Arts and Culture’s Wonders of Vietnam feature. From astounding craft works to the world’s largest cave and cities packed with history and culture — see it all without leaving your chair.
Put Vietnam on your travel bucket list
The Games may be over but that doesn’t mean you can’t travel in Vietnam in the near future. Put the beautiful host country in your bucket list and once there, make the most of your trip by keeping an eye on prices (just set up a “track prices” function on Google Flights) and find flights with a lower environmental impact using the Emissions filter.
Once you’re on the ground, let Google Lens be your guide. Just hold your phone up to a sign or other printed text, and Google Lens will auto-detect what language the words are written in and then translate them. You can also avoid crowds using Google Maps’ features showing how busy an area or business is, and find out businesses’ opening hours, offerings and other details through Business Profiles on Search and Maps.