Cambridge Consultants develops sports learning tool

Cambridge Consultants has designed a smart data collection technology, titled SparTag. The new tool, which consists of a small tag that can be attached to for instance sporting equipment, provides its users with an analysis of their motion data – allowing them to learn from their own moves. In addition to sport and fitness, the technology can be used for a variety of other purposes, including physiotherapy and ergonomics.

SparTag
Product design and development firm Cambridge Consultants has developed a new smart data collection technology. Titled SparTag, the tool consists of a small tag that can be attached to sporting gear, such as the end of a baseball bat, to collect motion data from the equipment. The tag is connected to an online system that analyses the raw data collected, after which it interprets this data and turns it into easy-to-understand information that the user can use to improve its technique and motion.

Hitting a home-run
When using the device to improve a player’s swing, SparTag can report the trajectory, orientation and acceleration of the ball hit. For baseball, the technology shows its users three key elements of their swing: power, follow through and attack angle, and provides the ideal ranges for each. According to the firm, this opens the door to the development of low-cost, targeted coaching tools for athletes at all levels.

The tool is not only usable for a variety of sports and fitness goals, but also for health purposes, including for gait analysis as part of rehabilitation after injury and for analysis of ergonomics. “SparTag is a tool for learning – the baseball bat concept is just one example of ways in which it can be used,” explains Ruth Thomson, Head of Consumer Product development at Cambridge Consultants. “SparTag offers a quick and efficient method of capturing, processing and analysing motion data from equipment or directly from the body – and presenting it as useful, actionable information.”

Advancing sport skills
This is not the first tool developed by Cambridge Consultants to advance sports skills. Last year, the consulting firm developed its wearable technology XelfleX that acts as a sensor in tight-fitting garments and provides its users with guidance and feedback on their movements.