Alumni Pitch Wearable Tech for Baseball

As the Major League Baseball season kicks off, NYIT alumni Joe Nolan (B.A. '06) and Keith Robinson (B.S. '93) of Motus Global have hit one out of the park with their human performance tools designed for athletes competing in America's favorite pastime. According to the Motus Global website, their motusPRO product is the first-ever wearable technology system equipped with five wireless, 6-axis motion sensors that measure more than 40 throwing and batting metrics, and sync with software on a desktop computer or mobile device to track and monitor biomechanics data.

In addition, their website notes 27 MLB organizations have tested their tools, which pivot on motion capture technology, a technique of recording movement digitally. Sensors on the motusPRO record baseball players' actions, such as the angle and speed of their elbow and wrist joints moving to arch an arm. That information is relayed to a digital device loaded with software capable of mapping movement patterns. Such specialized data could help pitchers and batters address their strengths and weaknesses, and potentially avoid common baseball injuries such as UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) tears.

Nolan and Robinson co-founded Motus Global in 2010 after selling their 3-D animation production company, Perspective Studios, to Rockstar Games, makers of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption video games. This year, Fast Company named Motus Global one of its Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Sports.

Beyond baseball, the wearables market is surging, thanks to popular consumer products made by brands such as Apple and Fitbit. Bill Zerella (B.S. '78), Fitbit's chief financial officer, told NYIT Magazine in fall 2015: "the global market is an area that presents opportunity for growth" for his company's fashionable wristbands that track human steps, calories, heart rates, and more. He also shared career advice for students aspiring to be business leaders.

In the classroom, NYIT faculty members are testing wearables to find new ways to teach and do research with students. A new space for exploring such opportunities is the HIVE (Home of Innovation, Visualization, and Exploration) facility opened in March at NYIT's Manhattan campus. The lab features motion capture technologies such as FaceShift Headgear, and Synertial Gloves as well as Oculus Rift virtual reality software.

To learn more about Motus Global's wearables for baseball players, read the USA Today story: "Can Sensors Prevent Elbow Injuries in Baseball?"