Sports

The adidas intelligent football

By Noel McKeegan

16:38 December 13, 2007 PST

December 14, 2007 adidas and Cairos Technologies have unveiled a new Goal Line Technology and the adidas intelligent football at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan which finishes this weekend. The official match ball of the tournament, adidas Teamgeist II, features a new technology designed to assist the referee’s decision in determining when and if the ball has crossed the goal line, making it the most accurate football ever produced. Our money is on the full blown Cairos system eventually being adopted at the elite level, partly because it would further human understanding of human physiology and the tactics of the complex game of soccer, but mainly because the eye candy information graphics that can be generated from the goldmine of data will benefit television in its quest to add uniqueness to sports coverage. Read More

Smartpeed multi-lane timing system offers reactive training

By Emily Clark

00:34 October 24, 2007 PDT

October 24, 2007 A wireless, multi-lane sports measurement and training system designed to assess critical aspects of sports performance including speed, endurance, race-pacing, reaction time and decision making in all land-based sports has reached U.S shores. Read More

New speed-climbing record set on El Capitan

By Noel McKeegan

02:29 October 17, 2007 PDT

October 17, 2007 It’s not exactly new technology, but the human body is still the most impressive piece of hardware on the planet - and when it attains spectacular new milestones like this one, we see it as worthy of our readers attention. Alexander and Thomas Huber have set a new speed-climbing record on the Nose of El Capitan – scaling the famous rock face in Yosemite National Park in a time of 2hr 45min 45sec. Read More

Tiny body sensor provides real-time athlete monitoring

By Emily Clark

14:37 September 13, 2007 PDT

September 14, 2007 Real-time athlete monitoring is now firmly entrenched as an essential tool for elite athletes, with a growing array of sports monitoring systems available for both top-level sportspeople and your average fitness fanatic. This new body sensor currently under development at Imperial College promises a new level of usability by virtue of its form – the cufflink sized device clips behind the ear so as not to impede performance and delivers extensive metrics on posture, stride length, step frequency, acceleration and the body's response to shock waves. Read More

Ionically charged sports clothing boosts athletes' power output and recovery

By Loz Blain

22:41 September 11, 2007 PDT

September 12, 2007 New Zealand’s famous All Blacks rugby team are about to miss out on a significant Kiwi advance in sports clothing technology that their Australian, South African, Irish and Scottish teams will bring to the World Cup. The All Blacks’ Adidas sponsorship will prevent them from using the revolutionary new IonX sportswear from Canterbury - a smart fabric that uses ionic energy to maximize blood flow, cool and calm the wearer, and deliver measurable performance gains in power output and recovery times. Read More

Icy Plunge Pool offers athletes a competitive edge

By Kyle Sherer

16:30 August 6, 2007 PDT

August 7, 2007 Australian company iCool Sport has rolled out the “secret weapon” first developed for use at the 2004 Olympics in Athens – and unlike the secret weapons employed by some less scrupulous athletes, it’s both healthy and legal. The iCool Plunge Pool is a miniature, portable bath that can chill water to a specified degree without the inefficiency and uncertainty of involving the use of ice. The newest design is based on feedback from hundreds of elite athletes and specialists who have been using the original pools in research trials since 2003 and is now available to any coach or fitness enthusiast. Read More

Asymmetric fishtail flippers promote a more natural kicking motion for swimmers

By Loz Blain

July 24, 2007 The idea of attaching fish-like fins to the body to propel us more efficiently through the water occurred to many early inventors, including Leonardo da Vinci, but it wasn’t until the early 1940s that flippers came into actual use – in this case, for the US Navy’s underwater demolition teams. Since then, they’ve become popular around the world for skin diving, snorkeling and swimming training. Look at the tails of fast fish, however, and you’ll notice that none of them sport a flat-edged tail – and it’s this observation that has driven Italian swim fin specialists Salvas to develop a new asymmetric fin design to get maximal kicking power out of a swimmer while promoting a more natural kicking motion than many standard fins. Read More

Polar release CS600 pro-level cycling computer

By Noel McKeegan

July 15, 2007 As this year's Tour de France hits the brutal climbs of the French Alps, cycling computer specialist Polar has announced the release its latest electronic monitoring systems which were developed using feedback from pro cycling teams during the 2006 tour. The flagship CS600 model is designed to provide in-depth metrics “out of the box”, including power output, left/right pedaling distribution, heart rate data, caloric expenditure and a new cycling efficiency reading that calculates the forward momentum of the bike in relation to the cyclists energy output. Read More

Nordic Sport radio-controlled sports gear transporter

By Mike Hanlon

July 14, 2007 Built specficially for the Pan-American games, which started in Rio de Janeiro yesterday is this very special electric Volvo C30. The 1:5 scale model was developed to transport javelins, hammers or discuses from the pitch back to the athletes in the throwing area. Volvo hand-fabricated the unique bodyshell for the 2hp radio controlled electric car and the chassis came from Nordic Sport. The little beastie can reach 20km/h carrying its maximum payload which equates to four discuses, three javelins or two hammers. It keeps people safe, and it works a treat. Read More

Innovative air-conditioned cooling vest

By Noel McKeegan

July 11, 2007 From elite sportspeople to industrial workers and emergency services personnel, avoiding heat stress is critical to performance, productivity and in some cases, even staying alive. A air conditioner that follows you around sounds like a great idea if not a particularly practical one - so why not build one into your clothing? This is the concept behind this innovative cooling vest which uses two battery powered ventilation units concealed in its side pockets to circulate air through a permeable three-dimensional, pressure-resistant fabric at a rate of up to 550 litres (19.4 cubic ft) per minute. The result is a system that increases evaporation and keeps the user cool by supporting the natural thermo regulation system of the body. Read More

The first US$100 million a year athlete and the next one

By Mike Hanlon

June 30, 2007 Forbes magazine released its annual Celebrity 100 list recently, noting that golfer Tiger Woods banked US$100 million in the last year, becoming the first athlete in history to do so. Woods is the perfect corporate ambassador, being handsome, charming, beautifully spoken, dominant in a major TV sport and black, giving him a commercial edge in that his sponsors are perceived to be inclusive of minorities. SportBusiness International Magazine once forecast that Woods could be the first athlete to earn a billion dollars in a year given he had all the boxes ticked and global TV sport was emerging as a gargantuan money spinner given that it’s the only time-critical news you can pre-sell. Remarkably, a new sports star has rocketed from obscurity who will almost certainly push his way onto next year’s Celebrity 100 and might well elbow his way past Woods as sport’s highest money earner in the next round of sponsorship negotiations. Unknown three months ago, Lewis Hamilton’s sporting career has begun more spectacularly than any other in history … in any sport. Read More

Not playing fair - golf equipment that gives you the edge

By Noel McKeegan

June 8, 2007 There was once a time when Woods were actually made of wood and hickory shafts were at the cutting-edge of golfing technology, no-one had ever heard of carbon-fiber, titanium drivers or hybrid irons, and many would argue that the game was no worse off for it. With the rapid acceleration in development of golfing equipment over the last two decades has come the need to ban certain equipment that provides too great an advantage to the user. Serious business in the multi-million dollar world of professional golf, but for the average hack looking to get one up on their friends during a weekend social game, the legality of the equipment doesn't have quite the same bearing - in fact it almost seems to have become a selling point for some equipment manufacturers. Read More

Real-time swing coaching - iTrainer Golf System

By Noel McKeegan

May 30, 2007 UPDATED - NEW IMAGES - The sheer volume of literature produced with the aim of perfecting the golf swing could fill entire libraries, but the problem has always been how to successfully translate this information - or advice from a coach - into your own game. iTrainer Golf provides a solution through real-time analysis and swing correction. Using a Bluetooth module attached to the club, the sophisticated system uses 3D sensors to measure key aspects of your swing, compares them with an optimum swing profile and provides immediate feedback via a wireless headset. Read More

Power Tool Drag Racing spins up in the UK

By Loz Blain

May 16, 2007 In possibly one of the most bare-chested, manly sports since the caber toss, Silverline is calling for entrants across the UK for the 2007 Silverline Power Tool Drag Racing contest to be held on August 5. Anyone can join in - simply rig up your favourite, fastest spinning power tool with any mods you think are necessary to make it a champion on the drag strip. Wheels, wheelie bars and custom frames are fine, but leave your radio controlled cars at home; they're banned for being "too boring." May the best tool win! Read More

Real-time athlete monitoring - the future of sport

By Gizmag Team

On-the-fly physiological monitoring of athletes is developing to a stage where an elite sports coaching box is looking more and more like a Formula One garage, each player being constantly monitored to ensure maximum performance while avoiding injuries. Speed and conditioning expert Dr Adrian Faccione, founder of GPSports talks to us about the cutting edge of elite athlete management, and the amazing future technologies that are now in development. The original 35 minute MP3 of the interview with Dr Adrian Faccione is available here. Read More

ExerSwim offers lapless swimming at any speed

By Mike Hanlon

May 12, 2007 If your pool is small enough to annoyingly break your rhythm with tumble turns every ten seconds, the ExerSwim Portable Swim Current Generator might be an ideal addition to your fitness regime. The innovative aquatic exercise machine makes nearly any pool endless with its smooth, wide, and variable current, providing lapless swimming for seniors through to professional athletes. The system uses a unique propeller design to create a wide, deep current for a natural swimming experience. The speed is fully adjustable by turning the dial to a “swim number,” offering a range from traditional swimming, through jogging or walking in place, to light hydra-therapy exercise. The portable poolside generator is designed specifically to travel, install, and store in minutes with minimal space requirements. Read More

The HangTimer measures how long you get air for

By Mike Hanlon

April 2, 2007 The HangTimer sports watch is a US$100 watch for measuring “hangtime” – the basis for bragging rights in extreme sports markets. The HangTimer is a multi-function carabineer style sports watch, and is capable of accurately measuring exactly how much “air time” you get to one hundredth of a second and hence is likely to be very useful for snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking and other extreme sports where time in the air is a measure of skill. The HangTimer’s magic ingredient is a tri-axis accelerometer which comes up with the proof behind the trash talk – proof that you did what you said you did! Best of all, in a world where PR-provided executive quotes generally suck, we like the quote from HangTimer’s VP Development, Ted Griebling: “We don’t condone insanity, but we’ll time it for you.” And just to catalyze a bit of the aforementioned trash talk, the best hangtime submitted during HangTimer testing was 3.02 seconds on a single snowboard jump. Read More

Garmin GPS-based Edge cycling computer touring California

By Mike Hanlon

February 18, 2007 The Garmin Edge has now been around for more than a year, but as the first GPS-based cycling computer and personal trainer and it’s a rich source of accurate and instant numbers on all the key variables in a way that hasn’t been provided before – time, speed, distance, heart rate, cadence, altitude and grade. One very interesting new capability for a cycle computer, and one that begins to bring game technology into the convergence mix in a very useful way, is the Edge's Virtual Partner feature allows the cyclist to keep pace with a digital person that performs at a programmed pace, duration or distance. Users can customize the display to show up to eight different data fields, as well as altitude and a map view. It attaches to either the stem or handlebars of the bicycle, and is designed for easy removal at the end of a ride. Californian athletes wishing to get a good look at the Edge might find a convenient location over the next week as Garmin is the sponsor of the internationally sanctioned professional cycling road race, the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, running February 18-25, 2007. Read More

Segway x2 enables a faster round of golf

By Mike Hanlon

November 7, 2006 Once billed as the future of personal mobility, the Segway has certainly had its fair share of trials and not many tribulations, but another of its many benefits surfaced this week in respect to its viability as an alternative to the golf kart. The Segway x2 Golf features a bag carrier, as well as a scorecard holder and special low-pressure tires that enable the x2 Golf to travel gently, causing less damage to the turf than a golf cart. In announcing that the Tiburon Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida would be the first in the country to offer the Segway x2 Golf to its clients, club officials had some very complimentary things to say after the club had conducted three months of testing. A typical round of golf at the course usually takes at least four hours, but the Segway’s zippiness enables 18 holes in less than three hours. Whatsmore, players who use the Segway products also find that it’s easier to talk because all four players can travel the course side by side, rather than having to split up into two separate golf carts. Read More

Sporting gloves and boots with 16X times more grip in the dry and 8X in the wet

By Mike Hanlon

October 25, 2006 There’s nothing as important as a competitive edge in the high-stakes game of world class sport and the recent launch of a new manufacturer in the sportswear industry with a seeming significant advantage will be interesting to watch. Simon Skirrow has spent three decades in the global sports industry, including many years at Adidas in charge of global marketing, promotions, product and sales, and his new company, SS Sportswear was established less than three years ago to bring its Nomis grip technologies to market. Independent tests show that Nomis Control Leather Technology gives up to 16 times more grip and control on the ball in the dry and eight times more grip and control when the leather gets wet. Not surprisingly, quite a few professionals have trialed the technology and a few have walked away from lucrative contracts with competitor products to stay with the Nomis technology, most notably Liverpool star Harry Kewell amongst more than 40 professionals that have begun wearing the boots. Nomis is available in both boots and gloves in the UK, USA, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the internet and the company is seeking further international distributors. Adding weight to the professionals who have adopted the new technology, two of NOMIS' boot designs took first and second place in the 2006 Soccer International Magazine Boot Test, beating big-name brand competitors including Adidas, Nike, Puma, Reebok and Umbro. Both NOMIS boots scored top marks for comfort, stability/manoeuvrability, touch/feel and received a perfect score for the 'value for money' category. Read More

Smart technology for racing cyclists

By Mike Hanlon

October 11, 2006 The future of sport is not just about training hard, it’s about monitoring the body and making intelligent decisions using the data available and a fine example of the high-tech understanding being developed in sport science is the work being done by Dr Martin Becker of the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE. Becker has developed a new intelligent training system which uses sensors, computers and actuators to help racing cyclists optimize their performance. Each bicycle is fitted with equipment that constantly registers the forces acting on the pedals. Further significant factors are the rider’s pulse and pedaling frequency, the speed and the gradient. All these readings are collected in a processor on the bicycle and radioed to a central processing unit where they are analyzed. The computer delivers individual training recommendations to each rider: He can view them on a display mounted on the handlebars or listen to them over headphones. Read More

The top ten golf gadgets

By Mike Hanlon

October 4, 2006 A good walk need not necessarily be spoiled if you employ the vast array of golfing aids that have graced these pages over the years. We have often reflected that more inventive creativity seems to be lavished on the sport of golf than on any other single human endeavour and we suspect it’s something to do with the type of people the game attracts (wealthy and presumably intelligent, or at least with a healthy dose of animal cunning), and in order to prove our seat-of-the-pants hypothesis, check out this array of remarkable golfing technology (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). QED! Now if golfers are so smart and so affluent, it’s time that golf courses got wise. A recent survey of 12,000 avid golfers across the United States showed that 72 percent of all respondents prefer to golf at a course that offers GPS over a golf course that did not offer GPS with only 24 percent indicating no preference and 91 percent had already played on a golf course that utilized a GPS system. Read More

The Bodywall improves health for all age groups

By Mike Hanlon

The Bodywall is one of the most adaptable inventions we’ve ever seen. Designed as a way to assist athletes to stretch effectively, the high adhesion gloves and shoes and high-tech wall surface offer spiderman-like capabilities. So it’s a gym, a ready made game and new form of physical education and wil be undoubtedly incorporated into the training regime of every elite athlete on the planet. But its chameleon-like character solves different problems in different markets. As in the parable of the seven blind men and the elephant, each person experiences and perceives the Bodywall in a different way. The original concept was to use a combination of the wall and gravity to challenge the entire body – improving proprioception, building muscle, joint, ligament and tendon strength, maintaining flexibility, reducing injury, rehabilitating injuries and facilitating full stretching of almost every muscle in the body for the very young and the very old, and everyone in between. Bodywall can be used either privately or very publicly, and can be manufactured for an audience of one, with the manufacturers offering a personal service, accepting four-colour, high resolution digital imaging. For an individual training for their own life goals, the Bodywall’s massive surface is an ideal place to decorate with personal messages to absorb while stretching – a great place to focus energies, emblazon a life purpose or a “go get ‘em” motivational mantra. It can function as a personal billboard for athletes and on a team scale, it offers a mobile sponsor wall that can be set up quickly at any training venue, in the change rooms or beside the pitch, court or track. In a world obsessed with sport, it’s a new high-association, visual advertising medium for sponsors. Whichever way you look at this invention, it ticks ALL the boxes. Read More

NO ban on Hypoxic Training

By Mike Hanlon

September 20, 2006 The Executive Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has decided not to ban Hypoxic Training systems and has not added artificially-induced hypoxic conditions to the 2007 List. The Committees found that the method was performance enhancing, determined that the methodology was contrary to the spirit of sport, raised some concerns but was inconclusive about the method's threat to athlete health. A substance or method may, but is not required to, be added to the Prohibited List if it meets two of these three criteria. There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the preliminaries for this decision and the subsequent misinformation surrounding the committee's determination that Hypoxic Training is contrary to the spirit of sport. Here are a few excellent resources for those whose mind is not yet made up: Interview with Dr John Hellemans of the New Zealand Academy of Sport South, links to WADA submissions from various authorities, and an excellent letter from Doriane L. Coleman , Professor of Law at Duke Law School, and an affiliate of Duke Law School's Center for Sports Law and Policy. Read More

Swimmer’s Snorkel – one small design change, one world of difference

By Mike Hanlon

September 11, 2006 Sometimes it takes just a few millimeters of change to make an entirely new product and the front-mount Swimmer’s Snorkel is a prime example of this. Instead of the snorkel coming around the side of the face as is traditional with a divers snorkel, the Swimmer’s Snorkel exits the mouth and runs straight up over the nose protruding from the water above the head. This enables the swimmer to stay face down in a natural floating position. It can be used with any standard swimming goggle and allows a swimmer of any ability to loosen up in the water and maintain a completely relaxed, face-down floating position, promoting calmness and relaxed, rhythmical breathing. Apart from no longer needing to move your head to breathe, the Swimmer’s Snorkel is quite theatrical, offering a man-made equivalent to the shark’s ominous dorsal fin (albeit in yellow, green or blue), and a spectacular purging process akin to that of a whale spouting. The relaxed, horizontal position allows people to swim at normal or even slower speeds while maintaining a full range of motion. For experienced swimmers, it offers an opportunity to sort out flaws in the technique as it’s possible to eliminate the breathing cycle rotation and work solely on body stability, head position and stroke technique.Watch a Thorpe, Popov or Van Hoegenband and their body stability is like that of a battleship. The manufacturers of the Swimmer’s Snorkel claim dramatic effects from using the snorkel to remedy poor technique - from a floppy, sloppy stroke to cruising stability in one lap in some cases. Read More