While there’s no substitute for real in-person soccer coaching, a coach can’t be watching what every player is doing, all the time. That’s where the Jogo system is designed to come in, as it continuously tracks players’ performance from within their shoes.
Manufactured by Dutch startup SportsTalentVision, Jogo consists of three main parts: insoles that are placed inside a third-party pair of soccer cleats, a couple of waterproof sensor modules that slot into each of those insoles from the underside, and an iOS/Android app on which the collected data is displayed.
Once the sensors have been inserted, the insoles can be left in the cleats until they wear out and need to be replaced. When the modules’ batteries need recharging, a flap of material on the surface of each insole is simply folded back so an included magnetic charger can be applied. Each sensor records its data 1,000 times per second, weighs a claimed 4 grams, and should run for up to 30 hours per charge.
As the athlete practises or plays actual games, IMUs (inertial measurement units) in the sensors track metrics such as average speed, acceleration/deceleration, ball touches, time on the ball, passes sent/received, shot power, right/left-leg power distribution, dribbling distance, and total distance travelled.
All of that data is transferred via Bluetooth to the app, where it can be viewed on an onscreen dashboard by the coach and the player. That app also allows coaches to track and compare the performance of different players on their team.
Should you be interested, the Jogo system (not to be confused with the JoGo coffee-brewing straw) is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. Pledges start at €84 (about US$100) for a one-player kit – that’s 30 percent off the planned retail price. Assuming the system reaches production, shipping should take place in December.
Potential backers might also want to check out the Adidas GMR soccer-performance-tracking insoles, which were announced last year.
Soccer sensor system aims to put a coach in players’ cleats [New Atlas]