It’s no secret that two of the largest industries right now are medicine and technology. Naturally then, business’s heavy hitters are trying to kill two birds with one stone. It seems like a perfect match: combining what just might be today’s most thriving industry (technology), with what just might be history’s most important industry (medicine). But today, it is neither a tech giant nor a medical powerhouse entering this game.
Riddell is an American company that specializes in football apparel, equipment and protective gear. While protective gear might not exactly be medicine, the story comes to mind of the villagers who battled over whether to build a fence at the cliff or buy an ambulance for the free fallers. Riddell builds fences (i.e. protective equipment) and aims to prevent a need for ambulances, quite literally in this situation.
The system allows the user or diagnoser to see how hard a hit was, where it impacted the player, and how long the impact on the player lasted. Upon seeing these results, coaches can then go to the players and instruct them how they can hit or play so that these types of impacts are less powerful, frequent, and taxing on their heads. While that might not get you a couple more yards, it could get you a couple more years on your career or, in extreme cases, your life.
While Riddell’s system looks to be one of great value and use to anyone that plays the sport, it is not ready to make a universal impact just yet. Currently, each unit costs $150. This is not chump change and would make this a system geared toward professional and college leagues at the moment. Riddell is testing their system in youth leagues but have had no exposure further than that thus far.
All this being said, let’s get to the point: how are they doing that “two birds with one stone” thing? Well, recently they announced a new InSite system that aims to protect from, and prevent the all-too-common concussion. It is estimated that over 300,000 high school and college athletes suffer concussions each year. This estimate does not even attempt to include middle school athletes or concussions suffered from other activities like extreme sports. It is clear that this is an issue, and one Riddell wants to take head on.
Riddell has been making football helmets since 1939 and has been known to revolutionize and improve them. Now their InSite system, which is “not a diagnostic tool”, looks to assist in the protection of players. There are three main parts of the system: the Player Unit, the Alert Monitor, and the Player Management Software. These three parts work together in order to give detailed feedback about the impact a player suffers.
With the current market for their InSite system being small, Riddell has not made any huge impacts. Time will tell if they can decrease production costs and increase this products influence on today’s young athletes.
All this being said, let’s get to the point: how are they doing that “two birds with one stone” thing? Well, recently they announced a new InSite system that aims to protect from, and prevent the all-too-common concussion. It is estimated that over 300,000 high school and college athletes suffer concussions each year. This estimate does not even attempt to include middle school athletes or concussions suffered from other activities like extreme sports. It is clear that this is an issue, and one Riddell wants to take head on.
Riddell has been making football helmets since 1939 and has been known to revolutionize and improve them. Now their InSite system, which is “not a diagnostic tool”, looks to assist in the protection of players. There are three main parts of the system: the Player Unit, the Alert Monitor, and the Player Management Software. These three parts work together in order to give detailed feedback about the impact a player suffers.
With the current market for their InSite system being small, Riddell has not made any huge impacts. Time will tell if they can decrease production costs and increase this products influence on today’s young athletes.
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