Griffith University researchers are developing microtechnology as a secret weapon to help Australian athletes gain an edge in the international arena.

Project supervisor and Griffith University researcher Dr Daniel James said micro-electronics technology is now being applied to snowboarding, cricket, swimming and tennis.

University engineers are working with the Queensland Academy of Sport on a system to monitor an Olympic swimmer's stroke speed and efficiency.

They are also developing a cricket-bat mounted device that measures stroke acceleration and power at different phases of a batsman's swing.

The first major snowboard competition to be judged electronically with a new hi-tech monitoring system was held at Perisher Blue last week.

Snowboarders wore a device that precisely measured acceleration, rotation and air time to provide an instant record of each athlete's performance across a range of aerial tricks.

Griffith University PhD student Jason Harding is working with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to develop the device, which costs around AU$1,000.

While happy to discuss the new technology, Dr James admitted to some "ducking and weaving" on a project shrouded in secrecy a year out from the Beijing Olympics.

"Australia is very competitive in the international (sporting) arena," he said today. "One of the ways to remain internationally competitive is to have the edge in technology.

"It's important to remain competitive so you don't want everyone using what's being developed."

Dr James, a martial arts enthusiast, is even adapting the technology to Japanese swordfighting.

Using sensors to measure the movements of an expert swordsman compared to a novice, Dr James hopes the technology will provide a powerful learning tool that can be transferred to the sporting arena.

"That can be controversial in some sports because different athletes don't always move exactly the same way but nonetheless it's a mark in the sand for performance," he said.

"If you can measure something then you've got a chance of improving it."

Harding said the new monitoring system allowed halfpipe snowboard judges to adopt a more objective assessment of athletes based on total air time and average degree of rotation -- elements that comprise 50 percent of an individual score.

"I think when you look at the Olympics and those top-level events, it really is getting harder and harder to separate the top 10 athletes," Harding said.

"They're all just as good as each other and they can all do the same tricks with similar air time.

"The idea is to put some objectivity into the judging but not to replace judges, just give them more information to work with and try to take out the controversy."

Harding stressed the technology would not detract from subjective judging based on a snowboarder's style and execution of a run.

"I'm very conscious of not bringing something in to half-pipe snowboarding that alters the sport in the future so you don't actually recognise it," he added.

"I don't want to kill the sport with technology and hence the idea of slowly integrating it and getting feedback from the athletes."