The sports industry has been working to perfect the tools and processes related to performance tracking for decades now – and have assuredly been interested in their benefits for far longer. But while it took generations of progress, from the stopwatch and measuring tape to more advanced instruments and methodologies that require computer processing and complex algorithms, recent breakthroughs in technology have provided sports scientists and practitioners with the springboard to make a quantum leap in movement tracking in athletes.
Perhaps the most significant recent shift in that tech, at first glance, may appear to be just an iterative version of an established tool. LiDAR-based movement tracking systems – such as Sportlight – are sometimes mistaken as just an update to legacy technology that, though flawed, had been considered the industry standard in the field for years. In fact, it’s a different – and in most ways superior – technology altogether.
What Is LiDAR?
LiDAR, or light detection and ranging, utilizes lasers emitted from a remote device to track athlete movements with precise accuracy and in dynamic 360-degree detail. It differs from legacy systems driven by optical or GPS data capture not only in its mechanical functionality but also in its practical application and the usefulness of its results. Although LiDAR isn’t new technology – it has long been used by NASA and the U.S. military, often for topographical purposes – but has only recently begun to be applied to the field of performance tracking. It’s important to note that it isn’t a slightly better or cheaper camera or more comfortable wearable; LiDAR is a fundamentally different way of capturing data, and it has benefits that can’t be matched by optical or GPS legacy systems.
The Case for LiDAR Over Optical and GPS Tech
Although there is no single “right” technology for collecting performance data, optical and GPS legacy systems are often limited by their surroundings or eschewed for their invasiveness. Although GPS delivers excellent results in its application in navigation systems, it isn’t designed to capture high-intensity, dynamic movements in large venues – the typical organized chaos on a pitch or playing field – and provide the movement-tracking results sports organizations seek.
In a similar vein, optical systems are an adaptation of existing technology for the purpose of movement data capture, but they are essentially powered by high-grade cameras that, while somewhat useful, can’t be categorized as a measuring device. They also don’t provide practitioners with the flexibility to capture data across various environments, such as smaller venues or on the practice pitch. Capturing dynamic, nonlinear movements with a camera is possible, but it lacks the degree of accuracy practitioners and organizations require at the highest levels of athletic performance – and comes at a significant cost.
For its part, LiDAR tends to be a pricier technology among the leading systems on the market, and there remain certain complications around its portability (a challenge Sportlight is in the process of addressing). But the alternative means settling for less accurate, complete and consistent data between systems when using optical and GPS technologies. Ironically, if yesterday’s sports scientists were left to build a performance-tracking system from scratch with today’s technology, they would almost certainly turn to LiDAR. When it comes to looking after the welfare of professional athletes, who are subjected to extreme physical forces and compensated in the millions, an investment in movement-tracking technology that can help optimize their performance, health and longevity is just good business.
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