January 7, 2014

CES 2014: Sony Tennis Racket sensor helps you track your swing over Bluetooth

by Gareth Mankoo

Your tennis racket could never get smarter than this. Not without Sony on its side that is. CES 2014 has seen a number of impressive releases and announcements but when we talk about a tennis racket swing monitoring system, we’re straying into the niche. Sony has developed a special sensor that fixes itself on to the bottom of your tennis racket. This little device studies the movement of your racket and the swing you apply to each stroke. The data is then sent to your smartphone, using Bluetooth. The vibration and the motion sensors of the device will let you know how fast the ball is travelling. It also offers information on the level of spin you applied to the ball and a thorough breakdown on the performance of your swing.

So, we ask ourselves. When do we see such a thing hit our sports stores. Well. Unfortunately the concept happens to stay in its conceptual stage for now. We do see how it can greatly inspire future innovations in sports, a field where ‘smart’ accessories are yet to be completely explored.