There are few places that are as emotional as the football stadium. With the help of the “Connected Scarf”, the Manchester City club now wants to examine the emotions more closely – and take advantage of them.
Anyone who has ever been to a football game knows how high the emotions can sometimes boil. Especially in a location like the Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City, which can accommodate over 55,000 fans. The popular football club is therefore working on a technical gadget of a different kind: the so-called “Connected Scarf”.
Manchester City’s smart scarf
The idea behind the wearable is simple: for strong emotions such as joy or excitement our body reacts. They now want to measure this change more precisely – with the help of a smart scarf called “Connected Scarf”. Manchester City is therefore working with the US IT giant Cisco and Octagon UK. Among other things, the companies want to examine and evaluate the number of football fans and its physical effects.
The findings will be used to bring fans “closer to the game than ever before”. What exactly is meant by this is not clear from the club’s tweet just quoted. However, various organizational and marketing measures would be conceivable. The football club’s head of marketing, Nuria Tarré, says:
At Manchester City we continue to explore the latest technologies to deliver quality fan experiences and bring them closer to the club. A scarf is an iconic item that football fans around the world own and wear to show their passion and support, and this latest activity with Cisco is an innovative new way to bring fans together and engage with them in new and exciting ways to get in touch.
Nuria Tarre, Chief Marketing & Fan Experience Officer Manchester City
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How does the Connected Scarf work?
Manchester City developed the wearable together with its sponsor Cisco. The so-called EmotBit biosensor is located in the “Connected Scarf”. This collects a lot of data from its wearer, such as heart rate and body temperature. These biosignals are intended to provide precise information about how fans feel in certain situations and to which actions they react particularly strongly. A scarf is particularly suitable because it sits close to the body or directly on the neck.
The official announcement for the project states: “Using an EmotiBit biosensor that sits discreetly around the neck, The Connected Scarf captures the body’s biosignals throughout gameplay, allowing us to create more curated, customized experiences in the future. “
A pilot with six die-hard Manchester City fans has already taken place. From the coming season, the wearable should then be available to other selected fans. The same applies to the US partner club New York City FC.