Position-tracking system improves sports teams’ performance

Designed for professional and other high-level competitive teams, BeSpoon Sport Edition generates key metrics such as distance run faster than 7km/h, average acceleration and jump height in real time. These next-gen statistics immediately give coaches, players and fans new insight into the action on the field.

BeSpoon’s Impulse Radio Ultra-WideBand (IR-UWB) technology, which can track individuals’ or objects’ positions and movements to within a few inches, measures the time of flight of an UWB signal, and is impervious to interference by nearby people or objects. The technology is suitable for tracking movement both in terms of accuracy and robustness.

BeSpoon Sport Edition, which combines BeSpoon’s technology and SportTracking Fusion software, is being used by Chambery Savoie Handball, a professional team in France. BeSpoon recently uploaded a YouTube video showing its tracking engine at work to improve player performance.

Installed in Le Phare, the team’s 4,500-seat indoor arena, the system instantaneously computes the position of players, who are wearing tiny chips, in three dimensions and feeds the SportTracking Fusion engine. Using portable computers near the team’s bench, coaches and players are able to optimise training and step up their game. The system also generates player statistics during games for fans to view.

“It was amazing to see how quickly the tracking system was implemented by our team,” said Laurent Munier, General Manager, Chambery Savoie Handball. “After a few minutes, our athletes and coaches figured out how they could take advantage of the immediate feedback and engaged with the tool to improve their performance.”

“BeSpoon Sport Edition is a new, practical and affordable way to apply the benefits of innovative microelectronics in everyday activities,” said Jean-Marie André, CEO, BeSpoon. “The systems’ next-gen data can dramatically improve athletes’ performance and enhance sport-fans’ experience with real-time statistics.

“Sports is just one example of the many domains where inch-level tracking technology can bring disruptive changes. In logistics, our customers are now able to automate challenging and expensive operations, as well as improve security in the warehouse. Retail stores are implementing location-based operation, a radical improvement in the way stores are managed daily. Defence organisations are using the technology for location tracking, which drastically enhances soldier safety. These are just a few areas where precise-location has already started to change the game. Industry, health care and museums are next on the list.”