This article is paste from the following link:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/the-human-os\/biomedical\/devices\/rocky-start-to-wearables-in-professional-sports<\/a><\/p>\n Major League Baseball<\/a> (MLB) has approved two wearable biometric devices for use during games, the organization told IEEE Spectrum<\/em> this week. Players will be allowed to wear the Motus baseball sleeve<\/a>, which tracks strain on pitching arms, and the movement-tracking\u00a0Zephyr bioharness<\/a>\u00a0during the 2016 season says\u00a0Mike Teevan, an MLB spokesperson. The organization had previously remained silent on the issue.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the National Basketball Association<\/a> (NBA) last week reprimanded a player for wearing the Whoop<\/a> wristband, which, along with all wearables, is banned during NBA games. The contrasting league policies, along with some ambiguity about what exactly is allowed,\u00a0has resulted in\u00a0a rocky start for the niche market for\u00a0wearables tailored for elite athletes.<\/p>\n Outside of official games, the use of wearable biometric devices\u00a0in professional sports has exploded in the last couple of years<\/a>. Teams pay thousands of dollars for high tech gadgets\u00a0that track physiological measurements\u00a0so players can optimize\u00a0performance and avoid injury. These sensors offer far more detailed and accurate data\u00a0than consumer-oriented\u00a0fitness trackers like Fitbit, and tend to be\u00a0backed with\u00a0analytics tailored for the athletic elite.\u00a0Professional athletes have been spotted wearing biometric trackers during practice, warm-ups, around town, and even in commercial spots. (Check out LeBron James\u2019 wrist in a recent Kia commercial<\/a>).<\/p>\n But for the most part, professional sports leagues have held back on approving\u00a0the devices for in-game use. In addition to the NBA, the\u00a0National Football League<\/a> (NFL)\u00a0and the National Hockey League<\/a> (NHL) have each drawn a clear line in the sand: no wearables during games.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean players won\u2019t wear them anyway. And it might be hard to police since\u00a0many of the sensors are are easy to hide. Catapult Sports\u2019 OptimEye<\/a>\u00a0sits over the upper back in a compression garment worn under the shirt. Some postage stamp-sized\u00a0sensors can be affixed to the skin\u00a0like temporary tattoos<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cleveland Cavaliers\u00a0point guard Matthew Dellavedova in March got caught\u00a0wearing the Whoop wristband, which tracks\u00a0heart rate, body temperature and movement. The device is clearly visible\u2014it\u2019s a wide black band worn around the wrist. Yet Dellavedova wore it for 15 games before the NBA noticed.\u00a0\u201cWearable devices are not permitted to be worn during games and yes, we asked Matthew to stop wearing them when we noticed he was,\u201d says Tim Frank, a spokesman for the NBA.\u00a0Neither the Cavaliers nor Dellavedova were fined for the infraction<\/a>.<\/p>\n High-tech wearables\u00a0are so new and potentially disruptive, sports leagues may have good reason to put restrictions on them for now. There are several issues to consider. The devices could give players who wear them an unfair advantage, especially if they provide real-time feedback during games. There\u2019s also a safety factor, like getting hit in the face by a hunk of hard plastic. And some players are concerned about privacy or that the data from the devices could be used against them<\/a>.\u00a0Player unions are aware of the concerns, and the issue will likely be a point of negotiation for many of them.<\/p>\n Major League Baseball is tiptoeing into in-game wearables\u2014but\u00a0quietly, and a bit ambiguously. Last year, for the first time, the league allowed players to don\u00a0the Motus baseball\u00a0sleeve\u00a0by Motus Global in Massapequa, N.Y. The device tracks strain on a pitchers\u2019 elbow, and aims to improve pitching mechanics in order to prevent the epidemic of injuries that has\u00a0led to a seemingly endless procession of pitchers having the\u00a0reconstructive procedure\u00a0known as Tommy John surgery<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the League\u2019s decision wasn\u2019t entirely clear to Motus.\u00a0\u201cWe were granted provisional approval for the 2015 season but there was confusion as to what that meant at the MLB level,\u201d says\u00a0Motus\u2019 chief technology officer\u00a0Ben Hansen. \u201cThere was use at the [minor league] level [in 2015]. The League\u2019s process this year is much more clearly defined and we anticipate strong adoption at all levels,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n MLB approved the device again for use in the season that just began this month, along with a new one to the game: the Zephyr bioharness by Annapolis, M.D.\u2013based Medtronic. That device\u00a0straps to the chest and\u00a0measures heart rate, respiration, peak acceleration, speed, distance, and GPS location, among other metrics.<\/p>\n Teams are not allowed to access the data from either the Motus or Zephyr devices in real time; they\u00a0must download\u00a0it after the game, says MLB\u2019s\u00a0Teevan. Electronic equipment such as tablets have, in the past, been prohibited on the field or in the dugout during games. But that changed too this spring when MLB announced<\/a>\u00a0that it had partnered with Apple to equip every team with\u00a0iPad Pros. Those devices will not have\u00a0Bluetooth capability enabled, according to a person close to\u00a0the matter who asked to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n