A few years back, like 5-6 years, people talked about bits and atoms like they were each their universes. It was pretty clearly separated. Bits were the 1s and 0s world of digital and online. Atoms were the chemical and biological world that all physical things occupy.
The line separating atoms and bits has blurred as the Internet of Things has become something. Sports, with the attention it gives to analytics (bits) and its basis in human performance (atoms) is shaping up an important proving ground for how these worlds converge.
There are hurdles to clear. Sensors that bridge physical and digital realms are emerging technology. User interfaces are not as usable as they need to become. And that’s the technology push side.
- Tiny wearable sensor measures blood flow (ApplySci)
- This mouth guard could show your concussion risk immediately after a nasty hit (VentureBeat, Dean Takahashi)
- As Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE approaches final stages, it offers glimpse of digital health journey (MedCity News, Stephanie Baum)
- Wearable, yes, but able…?: it is time for evidence-based marketing claims! (British Journal of Sports Medicine)
- How Fitbit, Samsung, Apple and Google misfired in watches in 2016 (CNET, Scott Stein)
- Red, Amber or Green? Athlete Monitoring in Team Sport: The Need for Decision Support Systems (International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance)
- Catching Ghosts (IDEO Labs, Elise Craig)
Market pull for the news sports technology is okay, not great. Sports analysts have a difficult task combining what they understand about statistics with the bioengineering that explains athletic performance.
- NBA, players plan to form new wearables committee as part of new CBA (ESPN NBA, Tom Haberstroh)
- Recovery is the new fitness science – The Jaguars are using a device called the “Firefly” for player recovery (News4Jax)
- The key questions MPs must ask Brailsford on Team Sky and doping (The Guardian, Sean Ingle)
- Tennis – The making of world No. 1 Angelique Kerber (ESPN, Greg Garber)
Research is happening. Medical groups are pursuing advances. Government funding is materializing. Big sports companies are pursuing moonshot-like projects. Sports teams and venture groups are collaborating on accelerators and operations.
- NIH awards aim to understand molecular changes during physical activity (National Institutes of Health)
- NIH Charts a Path for Nutrition Science (JAMA, Jennifer Abbasi)
- Andrews Institute Physicians Feel Responsibility to Advance Field of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Through Research Efforts (Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine press release)
- San Jose Earthquakes Capitalize On Silicon Valley, Introduce New Innovation Advisory Board (SportTechie)
- Stadia Ventures Continues Growth, Announces $25-50 Million Fund At Demo Day (SportTechie)
- Nike Wants Athletes to Run a Marathon in Under Two Hours, So It’s Rebuilding the Race. And the Runners (WIRED, Science, Ed Caesar)
There could be more research but there always could be more research. The bottleneck, if there is one, is lack of knowledgeable performance analysts. The skill set that’s needed is demonstrated in this post by Alan Couzens on Injury Prediction but at a higher level. Progress has it’s own timetable.
More things that I read and liked last week:
- Stadia Ventures Continues Growth, Announces $25-50 Million Fund At Demo Day (December 15, SportTechie)
- San Jose Earthquakes Capitalize On Silicon Valley, Introduce New Innovation Advisory Board (December 14, SportTechie)
- Wearable, yes, but able…?: it is time for evidence-based marketing claims! (December 16, British Journal of Sports Medicine)
- Giants strength coach Aaron Wellman has helped team to 9-4 record (December 15, NY Daily News)
- Catching Ghosts (December 15, IDEO Labs, Elise Craig)
- Mind of the GM (December 13, NFL.com, Michael Silver)
- The N.B.A.’s Back-to-Back Problem: ‘Rest? It’s Your Job, Man!’ (December 18, The New York Times, Scott Cacciola)
- Running’s Greatest Minds on Nike’s Two-Hour Marathon Project (December 15, Outside Online, Nick Pachelli)
- How Fitbit, Samsung, Apple and Google misfired in watches in 2016 – CNET (December 19, CNET, Scott Stein)
- Tech basketball finds new pace with team chemistry at its peak (December 17, Virginia Tech, Collegiate Times)
- The Rainmaker: How Cubs boss Theo Epstein ended a second epic title drought (December 14, SI.com, Tom Verducci)
- NIH awards aim to understand molecular changes during physical activity (December 13, National Institutes of Health)
- Red, Amber or Green? Athlete Monitoring in Team Sport: The Need for Decision Support Systems (December 14, International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance)
- As Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE approaches final stages, it offers glimpse of digital health journey (December 17, MedCity News, Stephanie Baum)
- Tiny wearable sensor measures blood flow (December 15, ApplySci)
- In women’s soccer, going pro isn’t as glamorous as it seems and more are retiring early (December 15, FOX Soccer, Caitlin Murray )
- This mouth guard could show your concussion risk immediately after a nasty hit (December 17, VentureBeat, Dean Takahashi)
- NFL to allow teams to video chat with draft prospects (December 16, USA Today Sports, Tom Pelissero)
- How to Practice: Nailing the Fundamentals with John Burmeister (December 15, Doug Lemov, Teach Like a Champion blog)
- Indeed, the NBA’s regular season is too long (December 16, Michael Lopez, StatsbyLopez blog)
- Luke Walton, Lakers make health of coaching staff a priority (December 17, The Orange County Register, Bill Oram)
- The Best Advice of 2016, from the World’s Best Athletes (December 16, Outside Online, Brad Stulberg)
- Recovery is the new fitness science – The Jaguars are using a device called the “Firefly” for player recovery (December 13, News4Jax)
- If You Have Achilles Pain, Look to Your Hips (December 16, Runner’s World, Scott Douglas)
- The key questions MPs must ask Brailsford on Team Sky and doping (December 18, The Guardian, Sean Ingle)
- Second Chances (December 15, Massachusetts General Hospital, Proto magazine)
- LeBron James and a bunch of other NBA stars decided to take Wednesday off (December 14, Sporting News, Adi Joseph)
- NIH Charts a Path for Nutrition Science (December 14, JAMA, Jennifer Abbasi)
- Personalized nutrition trending in 2017 (December 15, Food Business News)
- Tricorder X Prize, nearing a close, narrows competition to two teams (December 13, MobiHealthNews)
- NBA, players plan to form new wearables committee as part of new CBA (December 15, ESPN NBA, Tom Haberstroh)
- In tough moments like this, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is always…the same (December 14, The Seattle Times, Jayson Jenks)
- Why the NBA should let coaches rest their star players (December 15, Sportsnet.ca, Donnovan Bennett)
- Katie Ledecky reveals her secret to success in the pool (December 15, Excelle Sports, Kim Vandenberg)
- Injury Prediction (December 12, Alan Couzens)
- Andrews Institute Physicians Feel Responsibility to Advance Field of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Through Research Efforts (December 14, Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine press release)
- Is hearable tech really the latest thing in wearables? (December 13, ReadWrite, Cate Lawrence)
- Runners’ Brains May Have More Connectivity, UA Research Shows (December 14, University of Arizona)
- Hitting and the Power of Suggestion (December 14, FanGraphs Baseball, Eno Sarris)
- The international mobility of minors in football (December 13, CIES Football Observatory)
- Jaylon Smith unlikely to ever play for the Dallas Cowboys (December 14, All 22, Will Carroll)
- How to Sleep (December 12, The Atlantic, James Hamblin)
- Do humans need dairy? Here’s the science (December 14, The Conversation, Sophie Medlin)
- Wesley Matthews delivers on his promise to be better after injury (December 13, ESPN, Dallas Mavericks Blog)
- Tennis – The making of world No. 1 Angelique Kerber (December 13, ESPN, Greg Garber)
- Understanding Basketball Footwork (December 13, The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor)
- The Path to Long-Term Training Progress and Adaptation (December 13, Driveline Baseball)
- Nike Wants Athletes to Run a Marathon in Under Two Hours, So It’s Rebuilding the Race. And the Runners | WIRED (December 12, WIRED, Science, Ed Caesar)