AI-powered shoe insoles revolutionize sports training and injury recovery
A new wave of wearable technology could soon change how people recover from injuries, train in sports, and manage chronic health conditions. A team of researchers from the University of Portsmouth recently developed a smart insole that does more than just support your feet. It tracks how your body interacts with the ground—data that doctors, […]
A new wave of wearable technology could soon change how people recover from injuries, train in sports, and manage chronic health conditions. A team of researchers from the University of Portsmouth recently developed a smart insole that does more than just support your feet. It tracks how your body interacts with the ground—data that doctors, athletes, and researchers all find essential.
From Lab Equipment to Everyday Use
Measuring the forces between your feet and the ground—called ground reaction forces, or GRFs—has long been important in fields like exercise science, rehabilitation, and injury prevention.
This data reveals how muscles and joints work during movement. But for years, this kind of measurement required large, expensive lab tools like force plates or instrumented treadmills. These devices work well, but they’re stuck in labs, which means they can’t help much in real-world environments like gyms, parks, or homes.
Smart insole ground reaction force prediction made wearable—AI-driven sensors bring lab-grade motion tracking to everyday movement. (CREDIT: Depositphotos)
That’s where the new smart insoles come in. Created through a partnership between a university and a tech company, this wearable device offers a low-cost, mobile solution that anyone can use outside of a lab. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), these insoles are changing how scientists and doctors understand human movement.
Smart Tech Hidden in Your Shoe
Each insole includes two main components. The first is a pressure sensor system, called CapSense, which maps how pressure shifts as you move. The second is an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that tracks foot motion through acceleration and rotation. Together, these sensors feed data into a special AI model.
The dual-stream attention model behind the system uses both types of data in real time. It automatically chooses which data stream is more useful for different parts of a person’s motion. This helps improve accuracy when predicting GRFs. In tests, the system showed a prediction error of just 4.1%. Earlier devices with similar goals had error rates between 8% and 20%, making this new model far more reliable.
Dr. Dinghuang Zhang, a lead researcher on the project, said, “We wanted to create an affordable and portable alternative to expensive lab equipment. These insoles could help athletes improve performance, assist doctors in rehabilitation, and even help people track their movement for general health.”
Designed for Daily Life
Unlike bulky lab machines, these insoles are made for daily wear. They include a small built-in battery that powers the sensors for up to eight hours. The insoles connect wirelessly to a nearby computer using Bluetooth. All the movement and pressure data get stored in organized files that include timestamps, making it easy to track changes over time.
The smart insoles have already shown their usefulness in many real-world situations:
Sports and Injury Prevention: Athletes can track every movement, fix bad form, and avoid injuries.
Rehabilitation: Doctors and physical therapists can watch how patients move during recovery and adjust treatments as needed.
Health Research: Scientists can gather better data to study how different people walk, run, or recover from injuries.
Experimental setup with the smart insole and force plate. The participant wore a pair of smart insoles inside the shoe while moving on the force plate. (CREDIT: Tim Excell)
Dr. Tim Exell, a biomechanics expert on the team, said, “All human movement, whether in elite sports, recreational activities, or rehabilitation, is caused by forces. Being able to accurately measure those forces outside a lab environment is a game-changer. It helps improve sporting performance, identify injury risks, and support recovery after injury or other conditions.”
More Than Just Sports
While the smart insoles have strong uses in sports and rehab, they were also inspired by a more serious health concern—diabetic foot care. Many people with diabetes suffer from peripheral neuropathy, a condition that dulls feeling in the feet. This can lead to unnoticed high-pressure areas, which may turn into ulcers. If these ulcers aren’t treated, they can cause infections or even require amputations.
TG0, the tech company behind the smart insoles, wants to stop that before it starts. With pressure sensors that alert users to danger zones on the feet, diabetic patients can take action early. This simple tool might save both limbs and lives.
Smart insoles prototype. (CREDIT: TG0)
Dr. Liucheng Guo, Chief Technology Officer at TG0, explained the vision: “TG0’s mission is to use embedded AI and low-cost material to revolutionize the human-machine interface. We want to make them accessible, sustainable, and smart. By combining academic research with industry expertise, we’ve improved our low-cost smart sensing technology. The study not only showcases our commitment to innovation but also paves the way for next-generation smart sensing solutions that extend beyond sports into broader health applications.”
A Partnership for Real-World Impact
This research didn’t happen in isolation. It grew from a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), which links universities with businesses to create real-world solutions. The team brought together experts from the university’s computing and health sciences departments, working closely with engineers from TG0.
The final model was tested against top-tier lab equipment and showed strong accuracy. The full study appears in the journal Intelligent Sports and Health.
The smart insole UI for data collection and visualisation provided by TG0. (CREDIT: Intelligent Sports and Health)
By using a combination of simple materials, smart sensors, and advanced algorithms, this team made high-quality movement tracking more accessible than ever. From helping athletes train better to protecting diabetic feet, the smart insole may be one of the most powerful tools you can wear.
I wore the Whoop 5.0 for a month – it gave me the best of Oura Ring, Apple Watch, and more
Nina Raemont/ZDNET Four years after the launch of the Whoop 4.0, Whoop finally launched two new health trackers, the Whoop 5.0 and the Whoop MG. last month. While Whoop is mainly considered a health tracker used by pro athletes and fitness enthusiasts, the launch of the new wearables caters to a more general, health-minded customer […]
Four years after the launch of the Whoop 4.0, Whoop finally launched two new health trackers, the Whoop 5.0 and the Whoop MG. last month.
While Whoop is mainly considered a health tracker used by pro athletes and fitness enthusiasts, the launch of the new wearables caters to a more general, health-minded customer base willing to pay a high price for cutting-edge health tech.
Also: Garmin unveils its Apple Ultra Watch 2 competitor, the Venu X1
The latest health bands track your sleep, activity, and recovery like the rest of the health trackers on the market. However, the bands also deliver innovative new features, like a blood pressure monitor that provides data right from your wrist, an ECG monitor that detects atrial fibrillation, and clinician-reviewed reports for blood testing and vitals monitoring.
It seems like Whoop picked its favorite features from other smart wearable devices, like Apple Watch, Withings, Oura, and Samsung Galaxy, to create its latest lineup.
Functionalities differ based on the band, with the 5.0 supporting more general activity and health tracking and the MG, which stands for Medical Grade, supporting features like ECG and blood pressure monitoring.
Also: I tested an AI-powered glucose monitor against a traditional monitor for two weeks. Here’s my verdict
The most interesting feature of this launch is Advanced Labs, which allows users to schedule blood tests and interact with a clinician for reports and recommendations using the data collected through the device. Advanced Labs has an additional cost and is not available at launch.
Those interested in trying the feature out upon launch will be added to a waitlist. The feature is similar to Withings’ Cardio Check-Up feature, which allows members to connect with a doctor who evaluates their heart health data and sends back a personalized report.
The patent-pending blood pressure monitoring feature is similar to other health trackers with this functionality. Using a traditional arm blood pressure monitor, the Whoop calibrates data with the band three times. Then it begins monitoring systolic and diastolic ranges from your wrist, with no armband needed.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 has the same capability and calibration requirement, while Huawei’s Watch 3 includes an ambulatory blood pressure monitor, with no calibration necessary.
Nina Raemont/ZDNET
Whoop also introduced Healthspan, a feature developed with the Buck Institute’s Research on Aging’s CEO, that assesses your overall health through nine biometrics to quantify your physiological age.
Healthspan will tell users whether their physiological age is lower, higher, or on pace with their actual age for a holistic picture of their health and habits. Oura has this feature in the form of cardiovascular age, and I enjoy checking to see if my habits are helping or hurting my longevity.
Also: Your next Apple Watch could have a feature that transforms healthcare
The Heart Screener feature adds ECG monitoring to the Whoop MG. This feature can detect high or low heart rates, and atrial fibrillation, an often undetected condition. Users can take this collected data to their doctor for diagnosis and condition maintenance. Other health trackers, like the Apple Watch, Google Pixel Watch, and Samsung Galaxy Watch, already have this feature.
The newly added health features reflect a growing shift in fitness trackers as they become health companions. Oura recently launched a continuous glucose monitor integration for users who want to track their glucose and other biometrics all in one app. Meanwhile, Withings launched its Cardio Check-Up service to connect people quickly and directly to a clinician.
Other improvements include a 14-plus-day battery life, a smaller, sleeker build, updates to sleep-tracking for a more accurate picture of bedtime quality, a ten times more efficient processor, and enhanced data capture.
The price breakdown
Whoop offers three subscription tiers: One, Peak, and Life. One is the most affordable and least feature-rich. The tier offers sleep, strain, and recovery tracking, and features V02 max and heart rate zone monitoring, alongside hormonal health insights.
Peak is a mid-tier option with all the aforementioned features, plus Whoop’s new Healthspan and Pace of Aging feature, a Health Monitor feature, and stress monitoring.
Also: Bose re-enters the premium earbuds game, promising small but mighty upgrades to its Ultra earbuds
Life tier is the most expensive tier, adding blood pressure and ECG monitoring, and advanced health sensor tech, which is why it comes with the Whoop MG band, unlike the One and Peak tiers, which come with the Whoop 5.0 band.
The health band brand has always been more expensive, and the latest launch is no different. The Whoop One subscription tier costs $199 per year, Whoop Peak costs $239 per year, and Whoop Life costs $359 per year.
Workout Buddy: Apple Watch’s New AI Fitness Coach Explained | Technology News
New Delhi: Apple is about to make working out with your Apple Watch a lot more fun and inspiring. With the forthcoming watchOS 26 update, Apple is introducing a new feature called Workout Buddy. Here’s a simple breakdown of what it does, how it works, and what you’ll need to use it. What Is Workout […]
New Delhi: Apple is about to make working out with your Apple Watch a lot more fun and inspiring. With the forthcoming watchOS 26 update, Apple is introducing a new feature called Workout Buddy. Here’s a simple breakdown of what it does, how it works, and what you’ll need to use it.
What Is Workout Buddy?
Workout Buddy is a brand-new feature for Apple Watch users, launching later this year with watchOS 26. Think of it as your own personal fitness coach that talks to you during your workouts. Using Apple’s latest AI technology, called Apple Intelligence, Workout Buddy gives you real-time encouragement and feedback based on your workout data and fitness history.
For example, when you start a run, Workout Buddy might say something like, “Way to get out for your run this Wednesday morning.” As you continue, it’ll let you know when you hit milestones—like running a certain distance or picking up your pace. At the end, it will recap your stats, such as your heart rate and average speed, and congratulate you on your achievements.
How Does Workout Buddy Work?
Workout Buddy uses Apple Intelligence to analyze your workout stats—like heart rate, pace, distance, and your progress on Activity Rings. It then uses a text-to-speech AI model to create a voice that sounds like a real coach, inspired by voices from Apple’s Fitness+ trainers. This voice gives you individualize feedback and motivation throughout your workout, making the experience feel more human and encouraging.
All of this happens right on your device, so your data stays private and secure.
What Workouts Does It Support?
At launch, Workout Buddy will work with the most popular types of exercise, including:
Outdoor and indoor running
Walking
Outdoor cycling
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Traditional and functional strength training
The feature will be available in English first and will expand to more languages in the future.
What Devices Do You Need?
To use Workout Buddy, you’ll need:
An Apple Watch that supports watchOS 26
Bluetooth headphones (for the voice feedback)
An iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence (required for the AI features)
Supported iPhones include:
iPhone 16 series (16e, 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, 16 Pro Max)
iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
The Apple Watch and iPhone need to be near each other for Workout Buddy to work.
What’s New in watchOS 26?
Apart from Workout Buddy, watchOS 26 brings a fresh new look with the Liquid Glass design, smarter notifications, and more personalized music suggestions for workouts. The Workout app itself is getting a simpler interface with bigger buttons and easier controls, plus automatic music suggestions based on your workout and listening habits.
Could Apple’s new Workout Buddy get me running consistently again? Here’s why I’m so excited about it
The Apple Watch’s fitness features have been getting consistently more impressive in recent years, between new running metrics, the recent addition of Training Load, and integrations with third-party apps such as TrainingPeaks. And yet, despite these advanced tools at my fingertips and as someone who tests the best Apple Watches as part of my job, […]
The Apple Watch’s fitness features have been getting consistently more impressive in recent years, between new running metrics, the recent addition of Training Load, and integrations with third-party apps such as TrainingPeaks. And yet, despite these advanced tools at my fingertips and as someone who tests the best Apple Watches as part of my job, I’m still lacking in the running department.
After a long day of work, as a man in his mid-thirties with a very active six-year-old, the last thing I feel I want to do is get my shorts and underlayer on and head out the door, and that’s even with some lovely running routes nearby.
Scale AI Announces Next Phase of Company’s Evolution – NORTHEAST
Jason Droege is a seasoned technology executive and entrepreneur. Before joining Scale, he was a Venture Partner at Benchmark, an investment firm focused on early-stage venture investing in consumer, marketplaces, open-source, AI, infrastructure, and enterprise software. He joined Benchmark in 2021 to collaborate closely with portfolio founders, leveraging his extensive experience in building consumer businesses. […]
Jason Droege is a seasoned technology executive and entrepreneur. Before joining Scale, he was a Venture Partner at Benchmark, an investment firm focused on early-stage venture investing in consumer, marketplaces, open-source, AI, infrastructure, and enterprise software. He joined Benchmark in 2021 to collaborate closely with portfolio founders, leveraging his extensive experience in building consumer businesses.
At HardTech, Holyoke wants to sell itself as a place ‘for companies from Boston to land’ in a new manufacturing economy
HOLYOKE — This city — with its affordable old mills-turned office lofts, affordable green hydropower and proximity to markets and to educated workers form the Five Colleges — kept coming up during a technology conference in tony Cambridge last week. And Mike Stone — resident, co-founder and principal of Cofab Design here and an organizer […]
HOLYOKE — This city — with its affordable old mills-turned office lofts, affordable green hydropower and proximity to markets and to educated workers form the Five Colleges — kept coming up during a technology conference in tony Cambridge last week.
And Mike Stone — resident, co-founder and principal of Cofab Design here and an organizer of the upcoming HardTech Holyoke — insists he wasn’t the one bringing his adopted hometown into the conversation.
“Holyoke is on their minds,” Stone said. “There is an energy.” The energy is for Boston- or New York-grown companies looking for a place where they can grow.
CoFab is a five-person engineering consultancy working on designs for manufacturers.
The trendy word is HardTech, hard technology meant to differentiate manufacturing physical things from developments in AI or software.
“We work in atoms, not bytes,” Stone said.
The second-ever HardTech Holyoke event will be held Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Mill 1 at Open Square. More information is available by emailing hello@hardtechholyoke.org or online at hardtechholyoke.org.
A mix of networking, information and making connections, the event provides space for representatives of established companies in Holyoke to meet with firms potentially looking to locate here and learn about all the positive assets Holyoke can provide, said Aaron Vega, director of planning economic development for the city.
The first event — in August 2023 — drew 100 people.
“It was this scene-building activity,” Vega said.
With an admittedly loose definition of “annual,” Stone said he goes for a relaxed vibe without a lot of presentations. There will be food and conversation with displays of technology developed in Holyoke.
“More like a gallery opening, but for manufacturing and engineering,” he said
A buzz, he said, generated by success stories like Clean Crop Technologies which is developing new ways to remove contamination from seeds and foods and is located just upstairs from Stone’s Cofab Design in the Wauregan Building at 340 Dwight St.
Sublime Systems has helped put Holyoke on the map despite the loss of a federal grant supporting its plans to bring an innovative cement manufacturing process to Holyoke.
Sublime says it is moving forward and hopes to recapture the federal money.
Xenocs, with offices in Open Square in Holyoke, uses X-ray technology to analyze nanoscale materials. It will participate as well.
Based in Sunderland, Florrent, a maker of supercapacitors for energy storage, is also part of the event.
How Technology Can Improve Your Sports Teams’ Performance
PHOTO: Chelsea Ouellet/Pixabay This blog contains links from which we may earn a commission. The world of sports has been known to change quickly, and one way this occurs is through technology. There is constantly a new wave of tech on the horizon that can better various aspects of sports, including athletes’ performance. Pairing the […]
This blog contains links from which we may earn a commission.
The world of sports has been known to change quickly, and one way this occurs is through technology.
There is constantly a new wave of tech on the horizon that can better various aspects of sports, including athletes’ performance.
Pairing the prowess of an athlete with innovative technology can elevate both an individual’s and a team’s performance.
Wanting to better an athlete’s or a team’s performance is the norm for coaches, and all coaches could find this post useful.
Below, you will find out what types of technology are beneficial if you want to improve sports performance, as well as how this is achieved.
Athlete Monitoring with Wearable Technology
Athletes, coaches, and medical professionals can obtain precise data through wearable technology, which has completely transformed performance analysis in sports. Wearable tech can provide real-time data on various biomechanical and physiological parameters. Watches and other devices have been equipped with GPS and motion sensors, allowing individuals to analyze their performance patterns through their endurance, movements, and speed.
Coaches can use the data supplied to analyze performance, identify weaknesses, and optimize training routines. This will include distance, endurance, movement patterns, and speed from accelerometers and GPS.
These devices will also measure the athlete’s heart rate and variability (HRV), which can provide insight into fatigue, recovery, and stress. While HRV helps athletes assess their readiness for training, sensors like electromyography (EMG) will track muscle activation and engagement, helping to identify muscle imbalances. Obtaining this information in real time will allow for immediate adjustments during competition and/or training.
Performance Strategy with Monitoring Tools
PHOTO: Chelsea Ouellet/Pixabay
The use of monitoring tools in sports can provide valuable data that inform injury prevention, recovery, and training. Such data can be used by athletes and coaches to make data-driven decisions for them, optimize how they perform, and reduce the risk of injuries during training and competitions. This data will include key performance indicators, such as heart rate, movement patterns, and workload.
While wearable tech can also be used for this, the primary monitoring tools used by athletes and coaches include 3D motion capture systems, game analysis software, and video analysis systems. The latter is crucial to identify strengths and weaknesses, monitor performance, provide immediate and visual feedback, and track progress. If you wish to capture this type of data during training and so on, you should research the best sports video systems.
Video performance systems for sports should include advanced analytical tools, high-quality video capture, and integration capabilities. For example, Endzone Video Systems designs telescoping towers and sports camera systems, and this company has been recognized as one of the best, which means their products must be well-made.
Virtual Reality in Sports Training
With many advancements made in recent years, virtual reality (VR) has become well-known in some sports training sessions. VR can create an immersive and interactive environment that replicates the real-world game scenario, no matter if it is golf, motorsport, or soccer.. This allows athletes to practice their skills and strategies in a safe and repeatable manner.
There are several benefits to using VR in sports training. As well as providing real-time feedback on an athlete’s performance, this type of technology can enable athletes to better their decision-making under pressure, spatial awareness, and tactical understanding. This can also introduce them to high-pressure situations, assisting them with developing mental toughness and stress management techniques.
To conclude, there are a number of different types of technology that can improve the performance of a sports team.
Wearable tech, monitoring tools, and virtual reality, as discussed in this post, are only a few options that athletes and coaches should take advantage of to up their game in the future.
PHOTO: Chelsea Ouellet/Pixabay
