With the 2012 London Olympic Games just one week away, the city has been hard at work; enhancing security measures and erecting new stadiums in anticipation of millions of fans and tourists. Additionally, we have heard news that the world’s most famous ferris wheel – The London Eye – will be getting a makeover during the Olympic Games, transforming it into a giant social media indicator.

Former Olympic Decathlete, Daley Thompson

Through hundreds of multi-colored lights attached to the wheel, a light show will depict the overall enthusiasm of the Olympic Games. The coolest part is that it is ultimately controlled by people in all countries of the world. Behind the project is former decathlete, Daley Thompson who explains that the wheel will gather all tweets about the Olympic Games with the hashtag “#Energy2012″. A computer algorithm based on “sentiment analysis” will then track the mood of the tweets and express the general consensus through an elaborate light show.

Sounds complicated, right? Luckily, as a user, all you have to remember is to enter the hashtag “#Energy2012″ into your Olympics related tweets and Thompson’s system will handle the rest. The more positive tweets that are posted, the brighter and more colorful the London Eye will shine. 

Thompson, who won gold in 1980 and 1984 in Moscow and Los Angeles, explains how important it is for athletes competing to know that they have supporters rooting for them. The Olympics have also always been about uniting the whole world, and this seems like a great plan to further bring us all together in our common love for The Games.