Kinexon’s wearable sensor alerts users when social distancing is understood. It also helps to trace the chains of infection.
Source: Kinexon
As NFL players arrive at training camp this week, each person will receive a wearable smart tag that will monitor their interactions’ physical distance and duration.
Inside the NBA bubble, the sound of the beep indicating that social distancing has been compromised has become part of the new normal.
Kinexon’s SafeZone Beacons are the latest tool the NBA and NFL use to monitor social distance and also to provide contact tracing in the event a player is positive. It’s all part of the new reality as sports leagues invest their money and resources in tools to get them back into action safely.
The Germany-based company has worked with more than 100 professional sports teams for years on performance monitoring, but decided to pivot once the coronavirus hit.
“When the pandemic started, instead of tracking the location of people’s objects or assets… we tweaked our technology slightly to get information about the distance between someone and someone else,” said Mehdi Bentanfous, CEO of Kinexon.
Unlike their performance tracking devices, which provide valuable information to teams through precise location and movement tracking, SafeZone only measures proximity between people and duration of interactions.
As training is underway in the Orlando bubble, the NBA has made these devices available to players, but they are only mandatory for league officials and members of the media. In its security and protocols document obtained by CNBC, the NBA assures players that the devices will not be used to access GPS tracking.
The half-ounce tag contains a proximity sensor and can be worn as a bracelet, as an ID badge, or integrated into equipment for games and practice. It’s about the size of an Apple AirPods case
When a player or staff member approaches within six feet of another person, a red light will appear as a warning signal. After five seconds, an audible alarm will be emitted by the device, alerting users to distance themselves.
Kinexon said the settings can be customized by each customer to adjust to the desired physical distance and proximity warning time.
Meanwhile, the NFL is using Kinexon tags for mandatory contact tracing. In the policies and procedures of Covid-19, the league provided players and clubs, it says that proximity recording devices will be used to identify close contacts in the game. The NFL said during activities team, training and team travel, recording devices must be worn.
It’s not just players. Everyone in the NFL team environment will wear the devices on a daily basis. When registering each day, they will receive a device. They then return the device at the end of each day so that its data can be downloaded and the device can be disinfected.
The idea behind it all is simple. In the event that a player is positive, there is now a record of everyone they have been in contact with and for how long.
The Kinexon security tag can be worn in an ID card holder or on your wrist like a watch.
Source: Kinexon
Kinexon said each sensor is registered as a unique identifier, rather than as a specific person. Contact tracing using device information will be performed by IQVIA, an independent third-party company that works with the NFL on health and safety data.
Once a positive case is identified, IQVIA will identify employees and players who have had close contact with an infected person to let them know they need additional monitoring and testing. They will then follow the return protocols that the NFL has established.
Kinexon said more than 25,000 people have used the SafeZone product for contact tracing and social distancing. In addition to the NBA and NFL, the company has worked closely with European soccer leagues and has been successful in helping the Bundesliga DFL and BBL in Germany restart and end their seasons safely.
As for the costs, Bentanfous said it depends on how much and how quickly businesses need it.
The Kinexon tag is used by professional sports to help with social distancing and contact tracing.
Source: Kinexon
It’s not just about sports teams and leagues, but Kinexon’s customers are also one of the largest food companies in the world and one of the three largest companies in the world is currently testing Safezone. In Europe, clients include Henkel, Oerlikon and Personio.
“Currently we are 150% rather than 100% busy with all the projects we are working on,” said Bentanfous. “Big business, or even the leagues, see the need for physical distancing not only now, but it’s going to happen over a period of time, which may be beyond 2020, depending on whether we have a second. vague, “he said.
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