New wearable device uses 3-D sensors to coach sports

Global Business

New wearable device uses 3-D sensors to coach sports

In sports, just as in business, any edge you can get over the competition is valuable. That’s why technology and the internet of things are increasingly becoming assets to athletes.

One Silicon Valley startup helps to perfect users tennis swing and more. CCTV America’s Mark Niu reports.

16-year-old Rachel Edson is one of the top ten teen players in America.

She’s wearing a new device called Pivot, which uses sensors to provide a 3-D motion capture of body mechanics.

Pivot was created by the startup TuringSense, whose CEO Liming He actually won China’s first nationwide math competition.

He says in addition to getting feedback from their software, it opens up the possibility of being coached from anywhere in the world.

“For tennis, you say if in China, they are lacking experienced coach, we can line up a very experienced coach in U.S. and hook them to coach them better with remote coaching,” he said.

Practice can take place in your own home, or at TuringSense’s headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Users can download the swings of experts, like one of TuringSense’s partners, Nick Bollettieri, who’s coached everyone from Serena Williams to Andre Agassi.

Co-founder Joseph Camdani believes Pivot, which contains three sensors in one device, can do the same job as a Hollywood-style motion capture system.

“Instead of a few tens of thousands of dollars, just a few hundred dollars, you make it affordable for general consumer. You can apply it to sports like tennis, golf, basketball, soccer,”Joseph said.

Future applications include health care and physical therapy, so patients can make sure they’re doing exercises correctly.

But for now, the focus is on the trillion-dollar sports market, where the goal for both player and company, is being the best in the game.