NFL announces the winners of their race to prevent concussion
The NFL has announced the winners of their race to prevent concussions, one of the biggest issues currently debated in world sport.
Back in March, 2013, the NFL along with GE and Under Armour released the “Head Health Challenge” which called for companies to develop ways to prevent and/or diagnose concussion injuries. The prize was an estimated US$20 million investment from the NFL to continue the company’s manufacturing and research for another year in 2016.
The challenge consisted of two rounds with the first round focused on diagnosis and ways to treat head injuries while the second round focused on introducing technology that will prevent head injuries, making players collectively safer on the field.
With over 500 entries received, the three winners and their technology were unveiled in New York last week. And while 2015 has seen the advent of a number of companies using sports tech to change their respective sport, the background of the winners surprised, not necessarily because of their their ability to develop a product but their willingness to expand outside their industry.
All three winners were chosen for technology that targeted different impacts on the field but and would all protect and reinforce the same key areas.
The US Army was announced as the first winner after developing a helmet specifically aimed at targeting the backwards impact when a player’s head hits the ground.
It designed a system that would attach to the shoulder pads and the helmet and whilst being designed to work freely with any player’s movement, once it detected a sudden backwards motion, the device would spring into action and limit the contact of the player’s helmet on the turf.
The second winner was automotive sports tech company Viconic Sporting who has developed a layer of technology that is placed under the field that braces for impact and somewhat cushions the impact of a player hitting the surface and limiting the effect on a players’ body and a players head.
The final winner was the University of Washington who has developed a helmet that helps to offset the impact of the collision between two players helmets which, according to some sources, often cause a concussion. The University said that they’re unable to mention the technology but will do so in an official launch in January.
The investment from the NFL will help the companies to develop the products and the technologies with the solutions most likely to be available to the NFL in the next 18 months.
While the technologies don’t yet offer any foolproof guarantee that concussions will not take place, the “Head Health Challenge” is easily the most innovative initiative implemented by a sports governing body to tackle the issue that has changed the way we view contact sports, both as spectators and players. And considering the breadth of companies that have put their hand up in order to help solve the issue, it is an initiative that is certainly not to be scoffed at but instead, replicated.
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