Smart Cricket

Smart Cricket (previously Speculur) was first ideated in 2015 and their goal was to capture data of cricket shots. That idea was developed in the form of a cricket bat sensor (Batsense) and a mobile app which they showcased at the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales. They then officially launched in 2019 and was used during the ICC Cricket World Cup . So how did does it all work and what does it do for a Batsman?

The Batsense sensor is an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that captures acceleration, angular rate and orientation (magnetometer). It can be attached to the end of a cricket bat using a sleeve that acts as an interface. A batsman can install Batsense onto any cricket bat and turn that into a ‘Smart Bat’. Once the sensor is in place and connected to the Batsense smartphone app, the batsman can start hitting and collecting data. The sensor tracks metrics such as Impact time, angles (back lift angle, follow through angle, bat start angle, impact angle, blade angle), speeds (max bat speed, average bat speed, speed at impact), rotation at impact and shot efficiency. These metrics coupled with video footage of the shot and a 3D visualisation (avatar) of the motion helps identify where the batsman is strong at and where they can improve. The app also comes with various features to facilitate coaching and monitoring of player performance throughout trainings and matches.

Since launching in 2019, they have sold over 10,000 units worldwide, and they have even developed Smart Stumps that can collect data from the Batsense and broadcast that data real-time during a match. Going forward, the team at Smart Cricket are committed to expand their range of sensor technology to bring more insights into the game and help level up the performance of budding cricketers while reducing the risk of injuries. Some of those wearable technologies in their roadmap include putting sensors in cricket gloves, cricket helmets, shin pads, cricket ball and even shoes.

Vald Performance

Ever since ForceDecks became part of Vald Performance in 2018, they have been making lots of little improvements to make performance measures easier and better. Just over a year ago, they released the ForceDecks Mini to offer an ultra-portable solution so it’s easier to bring it around. This year, they have integrated video capture into their ForceDeck iPad app so that users (physios, exercise scientists, etc) can easily record the athlete’s movement, posture and joint angles, and review it in relation to the ground reaction forces (GRF) data from the ForceDecks dual force plates.

It may seem like a simple add-on, but the benefits are really significant. Firstly, syncing video and force plate data is not always straightforward. ForceDecks has not only done that, but they have incorporated computer vision algorithms to identify and annotate key moments and phases of the assessments/measures. So when it comes to reviewing the assessment and giving feedback to the athlete, the exercise scientist can quickly jump to the specific annotated key moments instead of trying to manually scroll through the video to find them. Secondly, having visual reference of the athlete’s movement, side-by-side with the data helps provide better context to the athlete and helps keep them engaged. One additional thing Vald Performance has done is developed a wireless adapter for the older ForceDecks models so that users of those models can also utilise this new iPad feature. Read more about ForceDecks Vision here: link .

Vald Health Launches ForceDecks Mini For Portable Assessments

Vald Health is a division of Vald which has developed and acquired various movement measurement and monitoring tech products including the Nordbord (hamstring testing), ForceFrame (strength testing), HumanTrak (movement analysis), TeleHab (exercise prescription) and ForceDecks (dual force plate system). All these products can be applied in a sports performance setting, which is what Vald Performance focuses on; and to some extent, they can also be applied in a clinical setting, which is the realm of a Vald Health. That is quite often the case with sports tech products -> they typically can swing over to work in allied health applications, and health tech products can sometimes cross over to sports applications.

In 2018, Vald acquired NMP Technologies, the makers of ForceDecks, a dual force plate system for evaluating neuromuscular performance. One of the key features (or differentiation) of this dual force plate system (compared to other force plate systems in the market) is the ability to measure forces of each limb/foot of an athlete individually and therefore the ability to quantify left-right asymmetries during jump, isometrics, squat measures etc. The system also comes with software that quickly processes, analyses and presents the key metrics for every test/measure. There were previously already 2 versions of the hardware – the ForceDecks Max and the ForceDecks Lite which is smaller in terms of weight and area of measure. More recently, Vald Health has launched the ForceDecks Mini to offer an even more portable solution to allied health or rehabilitation specialists. Weighing only 5kg per plate and packed in a small carry case, this makes the Mini system easier for physiotherapists to bring assessments to their clients – whether its offsite testings or even home visits for older clients. At the same time, the Mini maintains the same sampling rate (1000Hz) as the larger systems and supported by the same software so practitioners can lean on its accuracy and reliability. Find out more on their website here: link.