Do athletes truly understand their hydration as well as they should? Probably not. Gatorade thinks there’s room for improvement.
After consulting with Smart Design and the Gatorade Sport Science Institute on innovation and blueprints, Gatorade launched the first smart cap, to monitor an athlete’s hydration. From sodium and electrolyte deficiency to sweat production, Gatorade’s turbine censored smart cap and band-aid like microchip are individually linked to each player, retrieving and sending data back to a software program after each sip and sprint. There are seven key components to Gatorade’s new smart cap, tailoring to the customization of data per athlete.
- The Cap – Each cap is labeled by the player and their number
- The Cap Chip – Syncs with the player microchip, sending live analytics to the coach’s app
- Turbine – Measures liquid exiting the spout
- LED Lights – Compare actual consumption to consumption goals
- Fuel Pod – A concentrated Gatorade formula based on the athlete’s needs
- Fuel Pod Engine – Device that is used to break and disperse the fuel pod contents
- Bottle – Each bottle is capable of holding 30 ounces
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With sales falling nearly 18% in 2009, dwindling behind strong competitors in the sports drink market, PepsiCo decided it was time to implement a 40% increase in their R&D spending in 2011 and 2014. In those three short years, Gatorade was able to develop the smart cap system, generating formulas fueling athletes, optimizing full hydration and fluid recovery. An additional feature includes a smart scale interconnected to a tablet, logging a players training intensity, nutrient intake, and body weight. Once these metrics are synced, the software outputs customized recommendations for the athlete and period of training.
But why all this personalized data? What is the big push? “It’s about whether you want to be a premium brand or not,” Xavi Cortadellas, Gatorade’s global innovation and design senior director says. “If you want to play in the premium space, then you have to be delivering personalization. In all these spaces where we have no or minimal share, the potential for growth is gigantic.”
In 2016, professional players, coaches, and amateur athletes alike can gear up for the mass production of the new smart bottle. Testing is being done now with teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, the Boston Celtics, FC Barcelona and even Gatorade sponsored IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. It is obvious that the trend in big data collection is speeding up and the desire for personalized analytics is even more desirable. While Gatorade is ready to push out their smart cap for distribution, it will be interesting to see how else the brand moves beyond the field. Clearly they see technological innovation as a company driver moving forward.