Soccer Football – Premier League – Manchester City unveil signings – Etihad Stadium Press Room, Manchester, Britain – July 10, 2022 A general view of Manchester City fans during the unveiling Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
July 27 (Reuters) – Select Manchester City fans will be outfitted with the latest wearable technology next season as the humble football scarf gets an upgrade, complete with a biometric sensor built into the fabric to monitor emotional, physiological and movement data.
Using an EmotiBit biosensor discreetly placed around the neck, The Connected Scarf captures the body’s biosignals during gameplay.
It also records a range of physiological metrics including heart rate, body temperature and emotional responses – providing information on how fans are feeling at different moments.
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
“In our collaboration with City over the past several years, we’ve continually looked for ways to connect fans to the sport they love on a different level,” said Ashley Marusak, global sports marketing manager for Cisco, who helped develop the product has contributed .
“The Connected Scarf is an exciting project that we will lead together as we seek to better understand and measure the ups and downs of football fandom and how the game impacts fans not just emotionally but physically.”
Ryan Shaw, creative director of Octagon UK, which worked with Cisco on the project, said The Connected Scarf would help them understand the physiological emotions fans are going through.
“Creating this technology from the ground up has been an incredible journey and we’re incredibly excited at how much this scarf can teach us about fans and club culture,” he said.
Manufacturing and technology agency Unit9 also helped lead the initiative.
The scarf will not be available to all fans just yet, as only a select number will be distributed to City fans, including those of their sister club New York City FC, across the United States.
“It’s a brilliant idea and gives us a special connection with the fans,” City defender Aymeric Laporte said in a statement.
Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru Editing by Toby Davis
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Comments are closed.