Motus, Zepp Unveil New Wearable Baseball Tech at CES 2016

Motus Global and Zepp announced new additions to their existing lineup of baseball-specific wearable devices at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Motus Global’s system, called motusBASEBALL, is driven by a single IMU sensor. The new system can be used in a compression sleeve to track pitching, comparable to the mThrow, their existing offering. But the motusBASEBALL system can also be clipped on to a batting glove, providing feedback on a player’s swing.

“Our unique approach to the space, rooted in years of biomechanics services for MLB teams, along with the most powerful sports sensor on the market, gives our users the best chance at improving their mechanics and monitoring workloads on their joints,” said vice president for application development Ryan Holstad.

Preliminary information about the system is available on Motus Global’s website. The pitching metrics offered are very similar to the mThrow: both include throw limits based on workload, elbow and shoulder kinematics based on the single IMU worn over the ulnar collateral ligament, and a “bullpen mode” to help pitchers train.

The webpage also suggests that six metrics will be tracked for hitters: bat speed, hand speed, swing time, swing length (in inches), attack angle, and vertical angle. Metrics will be calculated separately for each region of the strike zone, to help hitters identify “hot” and “cold” regions. (Pitch locations will presumably be entered manually.)

To this point, not much has been revealed about the sensor driving the new system, other than that it has been “upgraded” over the current mThrow sensor. We can say for sure that the new sensor is less rounded than the current one. There is also a micro USB port for charging the sensor, a change from the induction charging previously used. More details will be revealed in the weeks leading up to the device launch (currently scheduled for February).

The company emphasized that motusBASEBALL was a consumer system, contrasting it with the motusPRO system unveiled during last month’s Winter Meetings. A full-body, five-sensor system, the motusPRO also transmits data via Bluetooth to a mobile phone or tablet for analysis. The system describes hitting and pitching motions through a wide range of angles, forces, rotations, and timing parameters. The motusPRO is currently available only to professional organizations, but Motus Global plans to roll the device out to select training facilities in the future.

Also this week, Zepp announced the next evolution of their bat sensor: an as yet unnamed offering embedded directly into the handle of the bat. As seen in the image above, the sensor will lock into a retention sleeve, which in turn will be fitted into the hollowed-out knob of a bat. Current offerings, which fit into flexible sleeves that slide over the knob, can move around or be knocked off by especially violent swings. Moving the sensor inside the bat should mitigate this problem.

The new design is still in the prototype phase, and no price point or release date have yet been announced. But Zepp claims to be in talks with a number of bat manufacturers to make a commercial version. In addition, Zepp announced a partnernship with New Balance, who unveiled a new digital sport division at CES.

Meanwhile, Zepp also has representatives at the annual convention of the American Baseball Coaches Association in Nashville. The goal there is to advance Zepp’s new design as an “open-source” industry standard for wearable sensors. To that end, the company will be hosting a roundtable discussion on this topic Friday.

Currently, devices like Motus Global’s and Zepp’s are not approved by MLB for in-game use. But MLB has said they are updating their wearables policy before the 2016 season. Until then, these devices can be used in practices and specific events: Zepp’s existing sensor has been used during game action at Perfect Game showcases, and an early version of the mThrow was used during 2014 fall instructs.


Skulpt Aim: A New Workout Measurement Tool

A wrist band there, a smartwatch here, maybe a sensor in your shoe. Connected health devices have an evolving — and growing —  place in our world, and as unique as they are, they tend to measure the same things. Heart rate, distances, sleep and such things are all incredibly helpful, however with the Skulpt Aim device, that is all left behind. Aim is a device that measures muscle quality (MQ) in specific muscle groups, up to 24, and by measuring biceps, triceps, abs and quads it gives a total body fat percentage as well as MQ score.

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To quantify the muscle gains, Skulpt Aim utilizes 12 sensors and a technology called Electrical Impedance Myography (EIM), developed by Seth Rutkove, MD, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. EIM applies a small current of electricity through the muscle to accurately quantify muscle and fat, as each reacts differently when a current is sent through it.

The MQ is measured on an index, the higher the score, the better the muscle quality. With each measurement you can track your fat percentage going down while the MQ goes up, ideal for focusing on specific areas where you think you’re lacking.

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With Skulpt, quantifying your training is far beyond simply looking in the mirror or even stepping on a bio-impedance scale. Each measurement with the Aim takes less than one second and the results are displayed on the device itself, no need to pair it with a wireless device for immediate feedback. It is currently compatible with iOS devices (iPhone 5 and later) and will be available for Android (4.3 and later) soon in order to keep a running total of measurements.

Skulpt’s website boasts comparable muscle measurements to hydrostatic weighing, the most accurate and expensive method. The Aim device also claims to be three times more accurate than caliper based measurements. It is available for pre-order at $199 USD and is also available for varying prices in Canada, U.K. and Australia. With a battery that lasts two months a single charge and is splash proof, the Skulpt Aim appears to be a must-have device for any serious trainer, regardless of  the sport. Skulpt’s intro video can be found below and a number of how-to measure videos are available on their website.


CES: SmartMat Is Reshaping Yoga

The crowd surrounding the SmartMat booth at CES was able to see first hand the connected yoga mat that has gained so much attention on Indiegogo by raising nearly 300% of the desired goal. Now in production, SmartMat had live demonstrations of just what the mat is capable of doing including recognizing 62 different poses, showing proper form, and providing audio and visual feedback from a digital instructor.

Ready to be shipped out in the second quarter of the year, the connected mat is available for pre-order right now for $297.00. With apps available in both iOS and Android, SmartMat has digital classes plus unlockable badges as your progress through various levels of difficulty. Before hitting the ground running you’ll need to calibrate the mat in order to accurately detect alignment and provide the best tips to improve your posture.

There are three modes in which SmartMat can critique your poses: In-home, In-class and Zen. In-home is aimed at the private user, giving real time feedback step-by-step and scores directly on your device. In-class is for session based or group classes as it recognizes poses, but you can tweak the setting for audio or video feedback only in order to not disturb others. The zen mode is designed for when you don’t have your phone or tablet with you. Zen mode saves your information locally in order to sync, review and analyze it later at the expense of no real time help.

SmartMat’s battery lasts up to six hours and connects via bluetooth. No need to be connected to wi-fi,thus allowing freedom to continue practicing yoga in the park, gym or while on a business trip. It measures 26″ x 71″ and is 6mm and can be rolled up just like a traditional yoga mat. For heat yoga enthusiasts the official rating on SmartMat is 110F, though the site also urges caution for your smartphone or tablet at that temperature.

By bringing the yoga class to your apartment or home, or even being able to travel with a virtual instructor, SmartMat is stretching the scope of yoga while it helps users stretch their bodies. Given the prices of classes — let alone private one-on-one sessions — it is clear to see why SmartMat has gained so much traction in the yoga community. The near $300 one-time cost for immediate feedback is a great price when compared to your local instructor’s rates. The video below is from SmartMat’s YouTube channel and is more of a preview trailer than demonstration, however given what was shown at CES, it is an accurate depiction of the finished product.


CES: M-Tracer is a Small, Affordable Golf Swing Analyzer

Though the golf swing is a highly-technical movement, it actually lends itself well to analysis with technology. The problem is, in order to analyze a swing comprehensively, an expensive and complicated radar-based system like Trackman is needed. Epson, with their release of the M-Tracer, is looking to bring a similar kind of analysis in a much smaller and more convenient system.

The M-Tracer is a small device weighing only 15 grams that attaches to the shaft of a golf club. The sensor tracks things like clubhead speed, face angle, swing path, and tempo. Renowned golf instructor David Leadbetter was involved in the design of the device, and was at Epson’s CES booth to discuss it with members of the media.

One of the biggest advantages of a system like M-Tracer is its flexibility. It can be used both on the course and at the driving range, or even in an indoor facility during the offseason. There are no special mats or cameras to be set up, just strap the device on the shaft of any club and start tracking your swings. The device can both stream live data to a Bluetooth-enabled device in real time, or can be stored locally for later uploading. Epson says M-Tracer can store 399 swings locally before needing to upload the data. Once uploaded, golfers can see the raw numbers as well as a 3D model of their swing to find what parts still need to be addressed.

One of the nicest things about the M-Tracer system is the ability to use it in conjunction with a golf instructor. Data can be sent from the student’s device to the coaches app so that the coach can keep tabs on how the student is progressing and if new issues have arisen. They can also easily communicate which facets of the game need work, so that the student know which data that the device captured is most important to their specific game improvement.

As someone who has relied on the indoor radar systems as part of his instruction, I can say that the idea of a portable swing analyzer is very intriguing. The ability to both work independently and with an instructor in a structured, data-driven way seems like the next logical step in tech-based game improvement. Nothing will completely replace the need for a good instructor, but the M-Tracer seems like a perfectly fine tool to use in the never-ending quest for the perfect golf swing.

The M-Tracer by Epson will be released in March 2015, and is expected to sell for $300.

 


CES: GameTraka First Look

 

The term “knowledge is power” is as important in today’s world of sports as it was when first written down in the Leviathan. Tracking devices are already widely used by professional teams, however never before has a GPS device been open to the public like GameTraka. With the new GameTraka GPS device and accompanying software, any person can arm themselves with a wide assortment of useful on-field analytics. The Australian-made device measures the basics such as distance ran and top speed, as well as giving an intensity rating and acceleration.

The device itself is very small, about the size of a box of matches and measures your position five times per second.

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Specifically, the dimensions of the GPS unit is 62mm x 38mm x 8mm and comes in at 22 grams. Given the nature of many sports, collisions are inevitable and rather than have wear a device on the hip or wrist, GameTraka is held in place by a lightweight vest with the sensor placed in the back. The vest easily fits under any jersey or uniform and is specifically designed to fit the unit safely and comfortably.

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The company’s mantra is “wearable, shareable and comparable” and as great as the vest and sensor system is, where GameTraka truly shines is the sharing and comparing department. After the game, the sensor sends the data to the software side of things for the full breakdown. Connecting via Bluetooth to an iOS device or computer, the GameTraka software is where the leg work is done. The previously mentioned intensity rating is an estimation of how hard the wearer worked. For example, on a soccer field, a striker may have ran only two-thirds the distance of a midfielder, but at a higher intensity.

By comparing players to each other as well as well from one game to the next, a coach can clearly see who is running the farthest, the fastest and the hardest. From a training perspective, the system removes any subjectivity and guesswork by allowing coaches to see just how well a player is progressing if coming back from an injury. Individual players can compare data by chronological order and take note of any trends that may present themselves.

The price of knowledge from the GameTraka is $299.99 per unit, though according to the official site there are group discounts available. From a basketball coach seeing who truly hustles on defense to a soccer manager attempting to find the fastest in-game striker or winger to a rec league player who just wants to quantify as much about themselves as possible, GameTraka is the ideal unit for gathering on-field information.

 


CES: VERT is a Small Device that Tracks Your Jumps

The wearable tech space is saturated with devices that track steps taken, heart rate, distance travelled, etc. But there’s one company that is focused on one very specific part of athletics; jumping.

VERT is the maker of a small device that clips to the waistband and measures many facets of jumping such as hang time, acceleration, and total reach. The statistics can be beamed onto a big screen, or synced with a Bluetooth-enabled device. Players can look at their individual stats, or coaches can collect team-wide information.

According to Rick Friedman from VERT — who I spoke to in their CES booth — the training tool is being used in over 750 universities, including Penn State, the 2014 women’s volleyball national champions. Friedman mentioned that volleyball teams were one of their biggest customer bases.

Beyond general training and game-improvement implications, the device can also be used to help with injury prevention. When using VERT, coaches and trainers can have an accurate look at just how much their players are jumping. This can be used to avoid overworking and soft tissue injuries, as well as closely monitor players working to rehab injuries.

With seemingly everybody is getting into the fitness tracking game, it can become easy to get lost in the crowd. Working in a specific market like VERT is is a good way to separate themselves in a very noisy market. And if it helps keep young athletes healthy, all the better.

 


CES: Razer Forge TV First Look

Gaming industry giant Razer is demoing their new Forge TV product at CES this week and the first impression of the device are quite favorable. Forge TV is an Android powered gaming platform, but rather than a full size (not to mention cost) console, it is about 4” by 4” and is considered a micro console. Don’t be fooled by the small size, as it packs a Qualcomm 805 processor, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. After accounting for the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system, about 14 GB of usable space remains.

Forge TV seems to fill a niche that I wasn’t sure was clearly defined, a place below multi-hundred dollar price tags yet above more casual mobile options. The micro-console itself goes for $99.99, though you’ll need to spend an extra $50 on the Serval controller bundle. Given that the Serval normally goes for $80 as a stand alone device for Android gaming, paying $150 for both the controller as well as the console is a great deal.

The hands-on experience with both Forge TV and the controller was pleasantly surprising. I was admittedly skeptical walking up to the little box, wondering what kind of punch it could really pack. With ports for an ethernet cable, HDMI, USB 4.1 plus a wi-fi connection, I didn’t have much faith regarding the true guts of the device. Once I was in-game, the graphics didn’t blow me away, but was certainly a clear step above mobile Android gaming. While multiplayer games were not set up, Forge TV does support up to four controllers.

The load times between the games were brief, though there was an instance where the game did give about a 15 second loading screen. That was the exception more than the rule as other levels loaded quickly. At one point my controller did disconnect from the micro-console. Our demo booth had a hard wired connection rather than wireless and it took a simple unplug, plug it back in to fix the issue.

In addition to the gaming potential, Forge TV also showed off its Google integration. From the home menu, familiar options such as Play Music, YouTube, Play Movies & Television shows etc. all appeared. Other apps already on board are Crackle, Hulu Plus and Red Bull TV. The little box also sports Google Cast, thus allowing you to stream web based content directly to your television.

One thing  I missed out on was a chance to see Razer Cortex in action. Cortex allows Forge TV to utilize existing PC games via a $34.99 software add-on. Granting the ability to play PC games on a console for barely half the price of a console game is an impressive move, however I personally don’t like Day 1 add-on costs. Perhaps something like a 7-day free demo will be released by Razer to entice potential buyers.

Minor quibbles aside, I came away very impressed with what Razer has done with Forge TV thus far. As someone who leans towards being a PC gamer, a cheap micro-console that I can play my computer games on has a ton of appeal.

Header photo courtesy of Razer

 


CES: Sony’s Smart Tennis Sensor is Coming

We’ve known for some time that Sony was releasing a sensor that attaches to tennis rackets, but we were able to learn more about the device at Sony’s CES booth.

The device is fairly straight forward and looks easy to attach. A clip mechanism is attached the butt end of the racket, and the sensor snaps into that clip. Sony representatives were able to confirm that users would be able to buy multiple clips to attach to multiple rackets. That way, a sensor could be easily switched from one racket to the other. The clips are compatible with select Wilson, Head, Prince, and Yonex rackets — all in all, over 100 rackets are compatible according to Sony.

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The sensor tracks a myriad of things like swing type, swing speed and ball spin. It even senses vibrations to locate where on the racket the ball was struck. The data can be streamed directly to a Sony smartwatch or a tablet/smartphone using Bluetooth, or the sensor can store the data locally to be dumped later. According to Sony, when streaming data, the sensor can last about 90 minutes on a charge while it can go three hours while in memory mode.

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Sony says the sensor is set to be released in the U.S. and Canada in the early part of this year for $200.


CES: A Live Look At Sling TV

With the cable-cutting generation in mind, Dish Network has made the effort to meet the cable subscription-free crowd halfway. The satellite entertainment company announced their Sling TV service, granting the ability to stream live television — in particular news and sports — all without a terrestrial TV package.

Though Sling TV is still only in an invite-only beta release, numerous companies have already agreed to sign on. Among the big name entertainment channels is ESPN, TNT, TBS, CNN and Food Network. The service will cost $20 per month, but it is not tied to a contract or any specific time commitment, and thus can be canceled at anytime.

On top of the lack of any long-term commitment as well as the channel lineup already in place, the streaming audience should take note too. Despite still being in an early phase, Sling TV is already compatible with Roku, Fire TV, Nexus player and XBox.

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Though the booth at CES did not display Chromecast compatibility, the representative I spoke with did say Sling TV can be used with the Google Cast system.

Sling TV is ready to go with Android and iOS devices as the beta version was already up and running on a number of iPads and Android tablets. While I was able to get a hands-on experience on the mobile devices, I didn’t get a chance to use the Xbox version. Sling TV has been steadily tweeting out updates and news regarding their service.


CES: Tiffen Wants to Smooth Out Your GoPro Videos with the Steadicam Curve

GoPro cameras certainly revolutionized the way we capture sports footage — offering a new, first-person perspective with their mountable waterproof cameras. But with mounted and handheld camera footage comes quite a bit of shakiness. Tiffen, a company that specializes in counterweighted camera mounts, has released a product specifically designed for GoPro cameras to offer smooth handheld footage.

The Steadicam uses hinges and weights to reduce the vibration and quick jolts in GoPro footage. It’s a technology that have been available to professional photographers for a while, and now anyone with a GoPro can make those silky smooth Hollywood-like roving shots to spice up their YouTube channels.

Steadicam Curve from The Tiffen Company on Vimeo.