Manchester City launches a smart scarf that monitors the emotions of its fans
The Manchester City, since it received investments from the United Arab Emirates in 2008, it is one of the clubs technologically most advanced in the world. Something has become clear, usually, through the use of big data for decision-making or in the club’s own facilities.
On this occasion, the club led by Pep Guardiola has gone further, launching a smart scarf for club fans to wear, and the sensors that it incorporates monitor its physiological changes in response to emotions in matches.
This launch is one of the fruits of the alliance that Citizens signed with Cisco almost three years ago. The objective, “better understand emotions” of those who wear it while the team is on the field.
How Manchester City’s new smart scarf works
Most of the sensors that this scarf carries are the ones that can be found in any Smart watch modern. From accelerometer to temperature sensor through electrodermal activity sensor, heart rate sensor or PPG (photoplethysmography).
Working together, they can understand that represent small biometric changes in the person wearing the scarf (sensors placed right in the neck area), which once treated can be considered a symptom of certain emotions.
This is explained by the club on its launch website, saying that invited six City fans to use it during a match to collect biological signals from their bodies and analyze their state at all times.
So that? Well, from to “serve as a study in the passion we share” to “shape more personalized experiences in the future”. Or what is the same: to know what is the optimal time to offer specific products or experiences to a specific fan.
For now, the smart scarf will only be received by a pre-selected group of club supporters, according to Reuters, as part of a pilot program that could extend into next season. New York City FC, a New York club that shares parent ownership with Britain’s City Group, will also receive a similar pilot.
In the next weeks, it is expected that a series of unknowns will be resolved around this scarf, such as the following:
– What are the advantages that fans offer when they give the club the most intimate emotions in a match (their own physiological changes).
– How these data are received in the club.
– Whether or not the history of each scarf is linked to a particular user (hopefully for the ultimate purpose of this product).
– What guarantees of privacy offers Manchester City to those who decide to wear.
– What is the reaction of the fans to this release, it completely changes the focus of the quintessential icon for fans of a football team.
This is how the semi-automatic offside will work for the Qatar 2022 World Cup
As it explains FIFAthe new offside detection system depends on three technical factors:
– The first is a sensor called Inertial Measurement Unit, located inside the Al Rihla, the official competition ball manufactured by Adidas. The device sends data 500 times per second to the VAR room detailing exactly when a player touches the ball.
– The second is a system of 12 cameras installed under the roof of each stadium. They have been developed to track the ball and players, detecting 29 specific points on the body that count towards offside. All this information is sent 50 times per second and is used to calculate the exact positions of the players in the match.
– The third factor is that the data from the camera and the ball is processed by AI, which will send an alert to the VAR when an advanced position is detected.
In any case, the penalties in the game are not automatic, since the video assistant referee will analyze the situation and notify those present on the field of play. The final decision will be in the hands of the referee and his assistants.
