How this wearable AI technology is helping NBA, NHL and athletes everywhere prevent injuries

Data gathered by Plantiga, an AI-powered platform, helps NHL team captain Gabriel Landeskog stay ahead of new injuries. Gabriel Landeskog wears the small sensors in the insoles of his skates for practices and games. He wears them in his sneakers when he’s training and, maybe most handy of all, while taking his dog for a walk.Those spins around the block and ice record all of his biomechanical measurements. The numbers provided a blueprint in helping the Colorado Avalanche captain resume his career after a three-year gap caused by a complicated knee injury. Now, they keep him at his gritty, goal-scoring best.The collected data ranges from movement patterns to his asymmetry and whether he’s favoring his surgically repaired right knee. It calculates in-game/in-practice workloads, stride characteristics, and the mechanics of how his feet interact with various surfaces—ground or ice.The details paint a picture to inform Landeskog when he’s reaching maximum capacity and needs a break. That way, the technology prevents him from reaching overexertion levels in training that might set him back for days, possibly weeks.“This detects any red flags before I even feel them,” said Landeskog, whose team trails Vegas 3-0 in a Western Conference Final in which he has two of the Avalanche’s six goals. “It’s been super important for me, and a huge help.”The assist goes to Plantiga, an AI-driven movement platform that helps athletes stay on top of their game and prevent injuries. The company’s cutting-edge technology is being utilized by players and teams in the NBA, NFL, WNBA and MLB, along with colleges, elite sprinters, weekend warriors and, of course, NHL players such as Landeskog.“What we’re trying to detect is the smoke before the fire,” explained Matthew Jordan, the vice president of performance science at Plantiga as well as an associate professor, faculty of kinesiology/sport medicine center, at the University of Calgary. “Imagine you’re at the point where your knee is just at the cusp of the next day it’s going to be like, ‘My knee’s killing me. I can hardly walk.’ We can see in the data before you reach that tipping point.”