IoT: From Sports to Fashion and Everything In-Between

Iot In SPortS It’s easy to find IoT in sports, whether you’re interested in wearables or objects. I’m sure the vast majority of Pervasive Computing readers own—or at least have seen—fitness bracelets such as the FitBit. Less common wearables include clothing such as the Hexoskin smart shirt, which measures your heart rate, heart-rate variability, breathing rate, and breathing volume in addition to your steps and pace (www.hexoskin. com). It can also track your sleep, measuring your heart rate, breathing, and sleep positions throughout the night. This type of technology extends beyond sports to monitor people working in extreme and high-risk environments, such as firefighters and military personnel. Smart garments can send an alarm, including a location, if a firefighter or soldier is hurt in the line of duty. Beyond wearables, Adidas now makes a smart soccer ball, called the miCoach smart ball, which has sensors embedded within the ball and retails for US $200. The sensors can detect the speed, spin, strike, and flight path and can send the data back to your smartphone via the miCoach app. The ball is a regulation size 5, and, amazingly, the battery life lasts for approximately 2,000 kicks over the course of a week (www.adidas.com/us/micoach-smartball/G83963.html). IoT is also influencing golf. GolfTEC and K-VEST use sensors and display technology to provide feedback to golfers. The sensors in GolfTEC measure launch angles, spin rates, club speed, and the like (www.golftec.com/about-golftec/ technology). Video allows the golfer to observe his or her swing from multiple angles. The K-VEST measures the golfer’s hip, shoulder, and hands to provide feedback on body position (www.kandicomergolf.com/technology/k-vest). We’re seeing more and more IoT technology influencing sports. Right now, the focus is on data collection, but I anticipate such data will eventually be used to teach us how to play a new sport and optimize our performance and fitness levels.