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TCS Sports Sponsorships: Blending Sports Technology and Sustainability
Highlights
- Connected wearables are transforming our health and fitness.
- TCS London Marathon partcipants are using fitness technology to enhance their training and performance.
- Digital twins, real-time biometric data, and AI-enhanced running socks could take athletic performance to new levels.
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Wearable technology and the future of sport
For many, running technology is a gateway to a major lifestyle change. Motivational apps, including the Couch to 5k platforms, act as catalysts to get off the sofa and out onto the streets.
As their running journey evolves, many people go on to invest in GPS-enabled wearable devices. These gadgets measure run times and pace, monitor blood oxygen levels and heart rate, and track progress towards your goals.
So, what does the future look like for running technology?
Taking fitness into the future
The prospect of next-generation wearables is exciting for sports professionals, who are always looking for more data to improve performance. Sam Bird, a Jaguar TCS Racing driver in the high-speed world of Formula E, completed the TCS London Marathon last year. In both his professional and recreational sporting endeavours, peak physical fitness is a must. “I’m very excited about future trends in the fitness world,” he says.
I think we’re not far away from smart devices going that extra step and really telling us what the body needs in order to perform better.
Here are three more technologies that could soon be helping runners to go further, faster.
1. Digital twin performance enhancement
Digital twins started life in the industry as virtual replicas of physical products and processes. They bring huge cost savings and much greater efficiency in sectors such as manufacturing by predicting breakdowns before they happen.
Medical researchers are proposing the use of digital twin technology to boost athletic performance and prevent injury. Using AI and machine learning, a digital twin could monitor a wide range of biophysical data to develop bespoke training programmes for individual athletes.
2. Real-time biometric data
Most marathon athletes know the importance of staying well-fuelled and hydrated. Some favour carb- and salt-heavy gels washed down with water to keep the legs moving. Others will pack cereal bars and energy drinks.
What current fuelling strategies lack is real-time data to inform a runner about what to eat and drink, and when. Sports scientists are working with Imperial College London to develop wearable patches that provide real-time glucose and hydration levels. The patches work by analysing sweat on an athlete’s skin. Data from the patch can be sent to an app, allowing athletes to adapt their fuelling routine minute-by-minute.
3. AI smart socks
Most runners don’t pay much attention to socks, beyond looking to avoid blisters. But Dr Benno Nigg, who founded the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Calgary in Canada, has a different idea. He told On-running.com that smart socks could improve performance for long-distance runners. “If you are running a marathon, you want to stay close to the anaerobic threshold but not over it.” Nigg explains that AI socks would, “measure muscle activity and provide updates to the runner via headphones or similar. If there’s too much activity it would alert you that the muscles are reaching overload so you can slow down and reduce the risk of injury.”
Running technology for all
As the title sponsor of some of the world’s biggest running events, TCS is a leading innovator in technology for long-distance athletes. We have developed apps with novel features for the TCS London Marathon, TCS New York City Marathon, TCS Amsterdam Marathon, and the Chicago and Boston marathons, as well as the world’s largest cross-country race, the TCS Lidingöloppet.
Our innovations include smart medals, soundtracks to give runners the experience of running through cheering crowds, unique AR and VR elements, and virtual maps to show where they are on a city course. The apps also feature real-time digital coaching and the ability to store medals and achievements in a digital portfolio.
Running remains one of the purest forms of exercise, with a refreshingly short essential kit list. But with the help of the digital technology that’s in development, we’ll all be able to push that little bit harder to achieve our personal goals.