Every Olympic Games produces a host of unique enamel pins. These are made by the Games organizers in the host country, as well as the countries competing, and the media outlets covering the event. The pins are always highly sought after by collectors, who have made pin trading a huge part of their Olympic experience.
For the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, tech giant Alibaba is digitizing this age-old tradition with its new Alibaba Cloud Pin. The pin is being distributed to media professionals working at the International Broadcasting Centre and Main Press Centre in Tokyo, to commemorate their work bringing the event to the world when live audiences are not able to be there.
Weighing just 0.65 ounce (18.3g) and measuring 0.4 inch (10.25mm) thick, the round wearable device can be snapped onto users’ clothing with a magnetic clip or a pin. The Alibaba Cloud Pin pairs with a mobile app to allow personalization.
The most notable function is one called “tap and make friends”, which allows users to exchange social media information by tapping their pins together. This offers a pandemic-friendly alternative to handshakes and exchanging physical business cards, in keeping with social-distancing rules at Tokyo 2020.
In the spirit of competition, the pin encourages users to be as social as possible. For every five friends a wearer makes by tapping other pins, a new sports-themed background is unlocked for the device’s display. There are 33 designs in total, representing each sport at Tokyo 2020, which can be used to customize the look of the pin.
Virtual medals are also awarded based on the number of friends a user makes, starting with a bronze medal for 50 friends, up to a gold medal for more than 150 friends.
This exclusive wearable is topped off with a step counter – because it is the Olympics, after all. How this new, digitized Olympic pin will be received is yet to be seen, but given that it’s marking one of the most unusual Games in history, we wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a collector’s item.
(Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post, the parent company of Goldthread.)
