Xampion Creates Soccer Boot Sensors To Measure Player Performance
Over 160 years ago, shoes, and by extension, sportswear was revolutionized. A shoemaker, Lyman R.Blake became the first to invent a machine for sewing the soles of shoes to the uppers. However, a Finnish company wants to merge the trusty sole with technology to bring soccer analytics into the 21st century.
Xampion has created removable soles for soccer players that can be placed in their boots and can measure their performance and metrics during a game. The product, which is not on sale as of yet, is fitted with one sensor for each foot and can be recharged by USB connections. For both coaches and players, there will be an analyzing platform to review performance, which will be available across smartphones and tablet devices.
Xampion will track performance across a wide variety of soccer metrics. This includes total number of kicks, which leg a soccer ball was controlled with, what part of the foot a ball was kicked with, the speed of shots, a player’s sprinting speed and finally, overall distance covered during a game or training session.
Co-founded by Fins Tero Suominen and Jussi Mutila, the company has also announced that its new shareholders include ex-professional Finnish player Juha Reini and current soccer player Jere Uronen, a Finnish national team player, who plays clubs soccer for Belgium’s KRC Genk. Suominen came up with the idea for Xampion after watching his son play a local game and took two years to develop a prototype. The company currently has three full time employees, along with 13 investors overall.
The product is likely to launch in February and can preordered from the company’s website with a retail price of $106 per pair. In addition to this a “Team Pack” is available for those looking to buy a larger number of the product.
