London Eye to become Twitter 'sentiment meter' during Olympics

London, July 22 (ANI): London Eye will be turned into a light gauge of how the nation feels about the games by analysing tweets throughout the Olympics.

Opinion on London hosting the Olympics has been divided the least with as many people dreading the impending start of the games as those who can't wait for it to begin.

Now, the London Eye will be used as a gauge to show how popular the event is during the course of the games.

The London Eye will be lit up each night in relation to the degree of positive or negative feedback to the event on the micro blogging site that day in the world's first ever social media-driven lightshow.

EDF energy, which sponsors the wheel, will be analysing comments on the website to determine how positive people are feeling about the games.

If the reaction is mixed then the London Eye will only be half lit, and if the nation's opinion is 75 percent positive then three quarters of the wheel will light up.

The 24 minute show will start each night of the games at 9 pm with every minute of the display representing one hour - giving a 24-hour light representation of the nation's feeling toward the Olympics.

The lightshow will also include displays of the country's flag Union Jack and gold, silver or bronze lighting, depending on the colour of the medals Team GB bring home.

Twitter users are being encouraged to give their feedback to the Olympic games by tweeting #energy2012.

The lightshow was launched by Daley Thompson, who won gold in the decathlon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics in Moscow and Los Angeles, and said that it meant a lot for athletes to know that their country is supporting them.

"Hosting the Games in London is an incredible once in a lifetime event and as a passionate supporter of the Games I want everyone to get behind the athletes and really show their support," the Daily Mail quoted Thompson as saying.

"We need to get behind our favourites to power them onto gold. EDF Energy of the Nation gives you a really easy way to join in, wherever you are and help drive a world first every night on the EDF Energy London Eye - a light show powered by the nation's tweets," he said. (ANI)