SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference announced today that it will use KINEXON SafeZone technology to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within its football and men’s and women’s basketball programs. The complexity of determining proximity and length of interaction while participating in these sports was a determining factor in adopting KINEXON’s leading approach to contact tracing.
KINEXON SafeZone technology uses small lightweight wearables called “SafeTags” to accurately measure the distance and duration between users. The SafeTags will be worn by student-athletes, coaches and staff during all team activities, including games. In the case of an infection, the contact information can be accessed by designated school medical officials via KINEXON’s exposure management software. With this software, chains of infection can be identified immediately and those at risk can be sent into quarantine in real-time, limiting the possibility of large outbreaks. Implementation of KINEXON’s SafeZone technology is expected to take place over the coming days for Pac-12 football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball programs.
”The Pac-12 is committed to creating as safe and healthy of an environment for our student-athletes as possible, and our partnership with KINEXON is another important step in doing so,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “Contact tracing is a critically important element of our health and safety protocols, and KINEXON’s SafeZone technology will significantly enhance our capabilities in this essential area.”
Prior to the pandemic, KINEXON established itself as a world-leader in sports performance technology and analytics. When the sporting world shut down in March, the company pivoted its award-winning sensor technology. Instead of tracking location or movement, KINEXON reprogrammed its ultra-wideband wearables to simply record the distance and duration between users. The accuracy and privacy of the solution are two reasons why professional sports leagues around the world now rely on the system, including all 32 NFL teams.
Our advanced digital approach to contact tracing has proven to be an effective way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within athletic programs,” said KINEXON Executive Vice President Jim Garofalo. “By adopting our technology, the Pac-12 is providing its student-athletes with the best opportunity to stay healthy and compete for a championship.”
The SafeTags can also be used to enforce physical distancing protocols by flashing a red warning light when certain people are within six feet of each other. This function is especially useful when managing different zones and groups. With KINEXON SafeZone, the SafeTag can be customized to emit an alarm in predetermined areas of a facility, arena or stadium where groups of individuals should not be coming into contact with one another.
About KINEXON
KINEXON is a global technology leader that develops groundbreaking hardware and software solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT). KINEXON Sports & Media provides performance and analytics solutions for more than 100 sports teams and leagues worldwide. In the U.S, KINEXON equips more than 75 percent of NBA teams with next level technology that assists with performance profiling, conditioning, training loads and injury management. KINEXON Industries implements specialized real-time IoT solutions for Industry 4.0, in order to capture, analyze and automate processes. The company pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic to launch KINEXON SafeZone – a contact warning and contact tracing solution to combat the spread of COVID-19, which has been used by companies around the world, including all 32 NFL teams. Founded in 2012, and headquartered in Germany, KINEXON has grown to more than 200 employees across offices in Munich, New York and Chicago.
