Technology is improving at an incredible rate in just about all sectors of our lives. And new gadgets have seeped from industry right into the sports realm to improve athletic performance and prolong careers.
Below, we take a look at a few specific advancements in athletic technology and how this has advanced some of our favorite pastimes.
Under Armour E39
Recent participants in the NFL Combine have worn Under Armour’s new E39 technology. This is a specially designed shirt that actually tracks an athlete’s rate of acceleration, heart rate, and breathing rate. It seems too futuristic to be true. There is a modular “bug” at the center of the E39 shirt that connects to sensors that gauge the specifics of the athlete’s performance. While the shirt has a bit of a bulge in the midsection, no players vocally complained about the protrusion. The bug and sensors are incredibly light weight. Scouts, athletes, athletic administration degree researchers, and sports agents all use the data collected by the E39 shirt to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of draft eligible football players.
Push Snowboarding
Nokia’s Push Snowboarding technology provides a detailed analysis of snowboarding performances. It was used at this year’s U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships’ slope style events and the half pipe competition. Push Snowboarding works through sensors that snowboarders apply to themselves and their boards. There’s a board accelerometer, a heart monitor for the chest, metal sensors for the wrists, and a GPS feature. The technology measures heart rate, adrenaline/skin conductivity (what Nokia calls “rush”), time spent in the air, spin rate, speed and much more. This is quite an impressive athlete tracking system that empowers snowboarders and their fans to understand the accomplishments and shortfalls of their performances.
iBike Dash + Power
The iBike Dash + Power monitors a bike rider’s performance. This digital device is basically a tiny computer that is affixed to a bike. Bikers will need an iPod Touch or an iPhone to function as the device’s display. iBike shows a number of statistics like distance traveled, speed and cadence. It even shows local weather information and maps. This data can be transmitted to either a Mac or PC and analyzed with the help of iBike’s free software. It functions with a variety of small parts including a wind port, a processor, and multiple accelerometers. Bikers use the data that iBike produces to better understand their biking performance and improve future results.
The future could hold advances in trans-human technologies that actually combine robotics into the human body to maximize athletic ability and lifespans. Yet the recent technological advancements in the world of sports are impressive in their own right. They have allowed players to get a better gauge of their strengths and weaknesses and accomplish lofty goals. Yet these advances have also helped regular people stay fit and trim as well.
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