XBand Sports will launch its debut wearable training technology system called the Speed Pro on Kickstarter on Tuesday, March 25. The three-piece system allows athletes to capture detailed performance data such as their speed, acceleration and a full velocity profile, straight to their smartphone or tablet. Any aspiring athletes will now have access to the training technology and capabilities that have cost thousands or even millions of dollars up until now.
“I remember growing up playing sports and really wishing that I had access to personal coaching that was only available to a privileged few,” said co-founder Steve Kim. “That’s part of the dream we are chasing in building these products. The technology is cool, but the real reward for us is giving all athletes a chance to be great by providing an affordable way to get help they need to get faster, stronger and better on their own time and wherever they practice.”
The Speed Pro, the first product in an entire line that XBand plans to make, focuses on speed and agility, critical skills for a variety of sports. It can be used for drills in a many different sports, such as base running drills for baseball and softball, sprinting drills similar to the 40 Yard Dash in the NFL combine, or any drill for track runners and sprinters. Athletes in any sport can benefit from the training options provided by the Speed Pro.
Composed of three pieces, the Body Module, the Marker Module, and the Smartphone Adapter, the Speed Pro generates an athlete’s exact time and his or her acceleration and velocity profiles.
The Body Module, worn on the arm or waist, detects starting point with three options. A manual start option allows the athlete to push a button to start timing his or her race, an auto-detect start tells the system to detect when the athlete begins, and a simulated race start option sounds a signal that athletes can use to practice for live starts.
The Marker Module contains signal processing hardware, a microwave sensor, and an RF module to accurately analyze finish or split times to a high resolution (one hundredth of a second). The technology allows this module to obtain times with precision comparable to expensive laser systems. Raw data is captured and transmitted from the Marker Module to the performance profiles on the XBand Sports app.
The Smartphone Adapter plugs into the audio jack on any smartphone, allowing the information sent from the Marker Module to be captured and displayed in an XBand Sports app. Athletes can track their overall progress and compare their times to those of friends, other athletes and world-class athletes. For an affordable price, athletes can now get precise time accuracy, as well as key velocity and acceleration profiles to help them pinpoint where they might be losing time in their drills and how they can improve.
The Speed Pro will be available on Kickstarter on Tuesday, March 25 for backers to pre-order their products. Pricing will start at $135 for the full Speed Pro system and will increase with larger packages specifically made for schools and coaches. To get the latest information on the campaign, like XBand on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @XBandsports. Also visit the company’s website at http://www.XBandsports.com.
