A New Era in Sports Technology Zack marot, alex cousins, and gretel payne
As America continues to grow and adapt to the ever changing world of technology, so to does the world of sports.
Due to a donation of $5 million from current Dallas Mavericks owner and Indiana alum Mark Cuban, Indiana University is providing new cutting edge technology can help in the world of sports. These new technological devices look not only to help better the fan experience, but also to help benefit athletes. These new devices include 360° cameras, Virtual Reality 360° glasses, and MyoBands. These devices look to help improve the overall athlete by helping break things down at different angles. These devices will be available at the brand new Cuban Center.
According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), there are more than 460,000 students participating in college sports. Of these student athletes, about 17,000 will be injured at some point during their respective seasons. And of those injuries, about 25 percent will be serious- to- severe type and the best way to prevent these injuries is to correct mistakes in athletes’ forms and workouts right away.
Using new technology, such as the Virtual Reality 360° goggles and MyoBands, trainers and coaches are able to attack the problem head-on.
By measuring muscle activation via electric potential, MyoBands are able to detect five gestures made by a body part. It then sends this information to connected devices. Once it reaches the device, coaches and trainers can see 3D images of the muscles and how they are being used.
According to PitchSmart, about 15-20 baseball pitchers get Tommy John surgery every year. Tommy John surgery is a procedure in which a healthy tendon from an arm of a leg is taken out and put in place of a torn tendon in the arm. With MyoBands, coaches and trainers would be able to asses the mechanics of a pitcher and see if they are at risk of tearing a tendon. This would drastically reduce the number of Tommy John surgeries that take place each year.
While Indiana University is on the road to getting MyoBands, Patrick Dhaene, the Videographer at the Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology, said, “People are really starting to push these things forward.”
With the Mark Cuban Center making huge advancements and investments into the world of sports technology, MyoBands are now considered a very real possibility. And with every new advancement, the Mark Cuban Center has the opportunity to expand their program.
As Dhaene said, “The possibilities are endless. They really are.”
With this 360° technology, teams can look at film from a whole new angle. “ Say you’re a baseball player in a slump, and you can’t figure out what’s going on. With this new technology, you can actually look at every part of your swing.” Dhaene said. "Same goes with a quarterback, golfer, or really any sport. This gives the user a supreme advantage over other players."