With technological advancements occurring at a faster rate than ever experienced, it can be quite easy to quantify the ways in which technology has changed our lives. Increased connectivity, access to information and the ability to complete tasks in a quicker time period than ever before; these are the things we think of when we mull over technology’s influence over our lives, but tech’s influence on sport can be a lot harder to measure, especially to the layman. So how, and what, are the innovations impacting the sport world today?
Super Textiles
Watch any game of sport from twenty years ago and one thing is very clear- kits and clothing used by sports people today are a far cry from the baggy, cotton vestments of yesteryear. It’s not just the tightness of clothing that has changed though, with amazing changes occurring in the very fabrics used in kits. Take 1st Round Athletics.
This Los Angeles-based sportswear company is pioneering fabrics that have embedded within them minerals such as carbon, aluminium and silver. These metals have been shown to improve the endurance and circulation of athletes, boosting levels of oxygen in the blood whilst resisting the adverse effects of sweat and odour. Utilising thermo-conductive minerals, the company is creating shirts that store energy that the body can later use, helping athletes attain new peaks of greatness! Bet you didn’t know clothes could do that!
Tech for Fans
With the rise of smartphones, fans all across the world can now access information and statistics related to their favourite teams, thus impacting that most exciting of pastimes relating to sport, wagering! The bookmaker Coral has recently released an app where fans can watch live games, make live bets and access all of the newest news relating to their favourite sports, thus making a pundit out of practically anyone!
Smart Gadgets
Wearable technology is a term being banded around at the moment in almost every technology-influenced sector, although it is in the world of sport than the effects will be most immediately felt. New companies such as Athos offer devices and tech-bolstered clothing that tracks the wearer’s heart rate, levels of muscle effort, levels of muscle fatigue, and can even offer insights into which muscle groups and bodily areas require more exercise. All of these statistics are, of course, viewable via a smartphone app.
