Wireless feedback
At the highest levels of sport, the smallest adjustment in technique by a competitor can make a huge difference. Accurate measurements of training and performance are crucial. It’s why many sports people are paying attention to a group project involving Imperial College London, Queen Mary University of London and Loughborough University. They are developing wireless micro-sensors which can give real-time feedback to coaches, and most importantly, are easy to use and wear.

No impeding performance
Dr Benny Lo, who leads the Pervasive Computing group in the Department of Computing, Imperial College London, explains that the technology originated from a different area. ‘Our previous work,’ he says, ‘was on elderly patient care. About a year and a half ago there was a proof-of-concept project to see how we could use the sensor for sports performance.’ What made a technology for elderly attractive to sports bodies was that current methods for monitoring performance are limited by their size and scale, taking place in a lab or requiring elaborate use of video. With the micro-sensors, explains Dr Lo, ‘the athlete can put on the sensors and use it for training, or even in a game, without it affecting the performance. We are using our sensors to monitor the gait or posture of the athletes.’ It can also monitor other biochemical information such as heart rate and muscle activity.’

Seeing patterns
For example, the team are currently working with ice skaters and bob skeleton riders who are training for the next Winter Olympics. ‘Conventional methods for example’, says Dr Lo, ‘where you use cameras, put markings on the athlete, then ask the athlete to run is very expensive.’ And it becomes problematic because with ice-skating for example ‘you cannot cover the whole ice rink, because the area is too big.’ But what gives this system an edge is that it is so user-friendly and enables continuous or frequent use, enabling the data to build up a picture. ‘What we are trying to extract,’ says Dr Lo, ‘is relevant or interesting patterns. So rather than very fine detail you have got a rough measurement, but more long term. We can do a trend analysis to help them improve or change their training program.’ What will really test Dr Lo and his team after the Winter Olympics is the London 2012 Olympics.