Trackers embedded in athlete’s apparel provide live in-game data for coaches

adidas is to trial its miCoach system at the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game, with team coaches able to monitor athlete performance on tablet devices.

Devices that help athletes monitor their performance have been around for some time now and are starting to encompass a range of sports – we recently reported on the Swimtag wristband, which acts as a training aid for those heading to the pool. Taking the concept one step further, adidas is set to test its miCoach performance-tracking system on world-class soccer players during a live game in July. miCoach is a suite of devices and software built into sports apparel that monitors the performance of athletes — such as heart rate, movement and goal achievements — in real time while they are training or in competition. Hardware includes the SPEED_CELL — a device which can be attached to the bottom of footwear to give data on speed, pace and distance, the HEART RATE MONITOR and the PACER Bundle, which monitors cardio performance and provides post-workout analysis. Each of these can be used in conjunction with the Mobile App or Sport App for mobile devices, which produce visualizations based on the data from the hardware. Still in development, adidas will be trialling the equipment at the 2012 AT&T Major League Soccer All-Star Game in Philadelphia on July 25th as well as throughout the rest of the MLS season. Coaches will be able to use the suite to analyze player positions and performance, and can then make strategic changes based on the data. miCoach will be rolled out to the public once it has been successfully tested. The video below demonstrates the suite in action: Just as educators have been able to act on the progress of their students with innovations such as Kickboard, adidas hopes to implement a similar monitoring system for professional sports. Could live action monitoring technology be useful in other industries?