Manchester, July 28 (BUS): Manchester City supporters will wear the latest wearable technology next season as the humble football scarf will get a complete upgrade with a bio-sensor built into the fabric to monitor emotional, physiological and movement data.
Using the EmotiBit biosensor that sits discreetly on the neck, “The Connected Scarf” captures the body’s vital signals throughout the match, Reuters reports.
It also records a range of physiological metrics, including heart rate, body temperature and emotional responses – and provides information about how fans feel at different moments.
“In our work with City over the past few years, we’ve been constantly looking for ways to connect fans with the sport they love, on another level,” said Ashley Marusak, Cisco’s director of global sports marketing, who helped develop the product.
“The Connected Scarf is an exciting project for us to try out together, as we seek to better understand and measure the ups and downs of the football fan base and how the game impacts fans not only emotionally, but physically as well.”
Ryan Shaw, creative director of Octagon UK, which has partnered with Cisco on the project, said “The Connected Scarf” will help them understand the physiological emotions fans are experiencing.
“Creating this technology from scratch has been an incredible journey, and we are very excited about how much this mantle can teach us about the fans and the club’s culture,” he said.
Production and technology agency Unit9 also helped lead the initiative.
The scarf will not be readily available to all fans yet, as a limited number will be distributed only to City supporters and also supporters of sister club New York City in the United States.
“It’s a fantastic idea and gives us a special relationship with the fans,” City defender Aymeric Laporte said in a statement.