Alibaba Introduces Cloud Olympic Pin Technology

Olympic pin collecting is enjoying closer proximity to the digital age thanks to Alibaba.

The official cloud technology and e-commerce services partner introduced the Alibaba Cloud Pin -- a cloud-based digital Olympic pin -- to working media at the Tokyo 2020 Main Press Center and International Broadcast Center last week. 

About the size and shape of a Reese's peanut butter cup replacing grooved edges with a smooth and sturdy plastic casing, each cloud Olympic pin includes a liquid crystal display and is app-enabled so its owner may create a pin-specific profile. 

Wearable on fabrics like traditional Olympic pins, the cloud pins glow and double as a name badge for the bearer. For social distancing and convenience, two cloud pin holders can simply tap their pins at arm's length, and the collectibles electronically exchange user info. 

The pin also functions as a step counter to log one's journeys on foot between pin exchanges. It's not clear how the pins maintain a charge, but one of the launch videos hints at a storage or charging case for this purpose. The other launch video shows more about the tapping and step counting tools. 

I suspect these modest media gifts are only a test run for introducing Cloud Pins to athletes at Beijing 2022's Olympic Village, but only time and user feedback from Tokyo 2020 will tell. No matter when cloud pins make it to consumers, I'll be ready with my designated pseudonym for trading: Pinhead.