
NFL Preparing to Embed Processors and Accelerometers in Player Helmets - phoenix24
http://insidehpc.com/2011/01/12/nfl-preparing-to-embed-processors-and-accelerometers-in-player-helmets/
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mrkurt
This is only somewhat related, but I lost a lot of enthusiasm for football
after stories about this kind of tech triggered an overdose on wikipedia and
news articles. The historical resistance to concussion research in the NFL
left me with a sour taste. Repeated minor concussions are likely to cause
later dementia, and I don't really feel very good about watching football
players (linemen, mostly) destroy their brains in such a way. I don't know how
aware of the danger they are, but gah.

It's odd, too, because I do enjoy other sporting events that can have long
lasting injury problems, and I really like mixed martial arts. I don't know
why exactly football makes me feel skeevy these days and the other sports
don't, but there it is. It may be that I can fathom living a full and complete
life with, say, blown out knees, but can't even comprehend what it's like to
experience Alzheimer's.

I also worry (with some incidental evidence) that improvements in helmet tech
have actually amplified the problem. If my head is "safely" encased in space
age materials, I'm much more likely to use it to whack on people. I suspect
linemen and "dirty" defensive players would play a totally different game if
the risk to their face and head was more obvious.

An interesting link:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/sports/football/30dementia...](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/sports/football/30dementia.html)

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jm4
_I also worry (with some incidental evidence) that improvements in helmet tech
have actually amplified the problem. If my head is "safely" encased in space
age materials, I'm much more likely to use it to whack on people._

I remember reading somewhere- can't remember where, maybe the Dr. Z book- that
the rate of concussions has gone up as helmets have improved. The concussion
rate was pretty low back in the days of the leather caps (of course, guys got
their faces smashed in on a pretty regular basis). The rate started going up
as soon as they attached face masks to helmets and has continued to go up as
the face masks have gotten larger. The same goes for pads. As the equipment
improves, players increasingly use it as a weapon.

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nkassis
That might be true but it's probably due to better knowledge and detection of
concussion today than in the past. Look at rugby, doesn't seem to slow them
down. The rugby players I know have broken their nose multiple times and have
scares to show for it.

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brudgers
This kind of technology doesn't translate down to the lower levels such as
high school, junior high, and pee wee leagues. Nor is the medical expertise
required to interpret it readily available at those levels. The approach is
cost prohibitive and dubious from a social engineering perspective. Besides,
the issue is not really one of data collection.

The issue of concussions won't be solved by technology. It will be solved by
officiating. FIFA figured out how to manage player safety decades ago...send
off players who endanger opponents and make their team play with ten.

Using officiating rather than technology as the means of protecting players
translates to all levels of the game...and therefore, becomes accepted by fans
and players over the course of a few years.

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lrm242
Did you watch the video? That particular incident had nothing to do with
illegal hits or an opposing team member causing endangerment. The player was
trying to tackle someone, came in hard, and ran into one of his own team
member's thighs.

These are high velocity impacts to the head, generally caused by the nature of
the game. The equipment needs to evolve to help these players minimize the
damage to their bodies.

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brudgers
> _"caused by the nature of the game"_

Officiating can change the nature of the game uniformly at all levels. PeeWees
aren't going to get the technology...nor team doctors and access to
independent neurologists for that matter.

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lrm242
Officials are humans and will, by definition, not uniformly apply rules.
Technology is the only equalizer here. Pro-style equipment has always leaked
into amateur sports, especially football--just take a stroll through your
local Academy and look at what's available.

We need data to understand what these impacts are doing to our bodies, and
then we need to design technology to minimize the risks. That or we should
just stop playing football--not something I'd be very excited to see happen.

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brudgers
I agree that the equipment trickles...or rather floods down. What doesn't come
down to the lower levels are the expert personnel of professional teams. The
other thing issue is that children are not little adults. Procedures developed
out of research in the NFL is unlikely to be appropriate in a pediatric
setting.

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nkassis
I saw the intel booth at SC that was demoing this stuff. It was pretty cool.
One thing that would help the researchers working on this would be more data
and the NFL doing this for all helmets could be valuable.

It would be pretty cool to also see the changes in the brains of players over
their career. It might be hard to shove a bunch of football players into a MRI
machine but the info that could be gathered from that would be very
interesting I think.

This work also has application to other things like head trauma from car
accidents as an example.

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maeon3
Require helmets with at least 2 inches of shock absorbing foam around the
exterior of the shell of the helmet. But then the players will just butt heads
even harder.

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jws
And the grip of the foam combined with the greater distance from the spine's
axis will provide for greatly increased torque from off center collisions.

I like the sensor approach, but using three referees as intermediaries to
nanny 22 grown men is silly. Attach the accelerometers to taser like devices
attached to the player and we are getting somewhere. Instant feedback pain in
response to previously unsensed damage. Evolution would probably get around to
it sooner or later anyway.

