Sports Techy RSS Feed
Sports Techy on Facebook
Sports Techy on Twitter
| More

Sports Equipment Technology

Slam Dunk with Bluetooth

December 02, 2013

(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)

If you're a fan of basketball and have $295 to spare on practicing the sport, InfoMotion Sports Technologies has just the product for you! The Dublin, Ohio based firm whose mission, according to its website, is "to improve the fundamental skill of any athlete by using information to make skill development measurable" has unveiled 94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball, a basketball that has the technological capacity to measure the subtlest of muscle memory, and to learn the strengths and weaknesses of players at any level. The ball is designed to adapt as the player improves, and also provides basic, intermediate, and advanced level training to build better shooting and ball-handling skills.


It looks and feels like a regular basketball, according to one user, Lauren Goode, who wrote about her experience trying it out on All Things D. Like any old basketball, it can be used on indoor floors or outside, and it's the standard size and weight. But if you were to slice it open you'd see just what sets it apart. It's rigged with nine unique sensors, including accelerometers, a gyroscope and a Bluetooth chip.

The sensors read your movements and patterns and transmit the data to a mobile app that provides instant feedback purported to help you improve your game by showing you exactly how you play. The product is aimed at non-professional players, aka, every amateur athlete who wants nothing more for Christmas than to not suck at sports, but Goode found in her time with 94Fifty that it may better appeal to NBA bigwigs. It's not only pricey, it's technologically intense. Goode suggests that, as someone with some but not a lot of experience playing basketball, she couldn't vouch for the app's instructions, and felt that a coach or some other expert should be present to dissect and certify the readings. That said, she also claims to be having a lot of fun with it.

94Fifty takes a few hours to charge and should stay powered for 8 hours. 




Edited by Cassandra Tucker