LAYER x Catapult Launch A Wearable Device

To coincide with the World Cup, design agency LAYER has collaborated with sports analytics brand Catapult to bring a different kind of smart wearable to our attention.

Coinciding with the World Cup, Benjamin Hubert of experience design agency LAYER has designed PLAYR, a smart wearable that enables athletes to track performance, improve their game, and compete against other players. Designed and developed over a period of 18 months, the LAYER partnered up with leading sports analytics brand Catapult, the company responsible for the wearable and analytic tech behind the success of some of the world’s most elite sporting teams.

Wearables
The smart pod | Photo credit: LAYER

LAYER x Catapult Launch Wearable Device

A perfect device for an audience of amateur football players, PLAYR is comprised of a smart pod, high-performance vest, and an app. The pod is inserted into the garment, which is worn underneath or over a football jersey, and sits at the top of the athlete’s back. The pod communicates with GPS networks and the PLAYR app to track the athlete during training or a game, including distance covered, sprint distance, Pitch heat map, and player load.

“The PLAYR garment is a high-performance vest, created using advanced high-performance textiles.”

The PLAYR garment is a high-performance vest, created using advanced high-performance textiles. The integrated pocket for the pod is located at the base of the neck – a position chosen due to minimum impact in competitive team sports. The pocket is padded to prevent any impact injury, and the pod is inserted into this pocket from outside the garment for ease of access to the pod.

Wearables
Photo credit: LAYER

The PLAYR app allows an athlete to track their performance and offers a smart coach to improve the user’s game. Designed for ease of use, with simple, intuitive UI, it also allows the user to compete against friends and peers, and benchmark themselves against professional players.

Handpicked Wearable by the Best Coaches and Scientists

Providing unique performance insight, the SmartCoach system is a world’s first. PLAYR has handpicked the best professional football coaches and sports scientists to provide individually tailored advice on preparation, performance and recovery; the pillars for success at professional clubs. With SmartCoach insight, consumers for the first time can benchmark their match and training data against the greatest players in the world, as well as their football peers and community.

“With SmartCoach insight, consumers for the first time can benchmark their match and training data against the greatest players in the world”

The PLAYR Pod Wearable Seamlessly Integrates into Training

PLAYR has been designed to seamlessly integrate into both training and match situations, to offer statistics to the players and teams to improve their game. The PLAYR pod has smart activation and activates with magnets located inside the vest when inserted in the pocket. LEDs on the PLAYR pod communicate the GPS signal strength, battery life, and charging. When illuminated, these LEDs reveal a pattern in the reverse of the top surface of the pod to communicate the high-performance technological nature of the system.

PLAYR | Photo credit: LAYER

When it comes to other features, the PLAYR pod has been designed to be wirelessly recharged between uses on the induction charging pad. The design language of the PLAYR pod is softly muscular, and the hexagonal form represents strength and performance. The pod communicates with GPS networks and the PLAYR app to track the athlete during training or a game.

Share Your Tips & Corrections

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Founding Editor in Chief at FashNerd.com | editor@fashnerd.com | Website

Founding editor-in-chief of FashNerd.com, Muchaneta is currently one of the leading influencers writing about the merger of fashion with technology and wearable technology. She has also given talks at Premiere Vision, Munich Fabric Start and Pure London, to name a few. Besides working as a fashion innovation consultant for various fashion companies like LVMH Atelier, Muchaneta has also contributed to Vogue Business, is a senior contributor at The Interline and an associate lecturer at London College of Fashion, UAL.