IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - January 2021 - 3

Editorial

by Saeid Nahavandi

ma r t sof t wa re, a r t i f icia l
intelligence (AI), and cloud
computing can bring what
was once the unimaginable to reality. Having the privilege of being
based at a university research institute, I often get the opportunity to
work with great researchers and scientists to think outside the box and
attempt to develop what would sometimes be considered novel technologies. One such technology focused
on intelligent remote coaching. Elite
swimmers and their coaches work
together to gain a competitive edge,
fighting over that precious fraction of
a second that distinguishes one champion from another. A system was
developed to allow these swimmers
to train in the comfort of their local
pools without missing out on valuable
instructions given by their coaches.
The swimmers wore a special
small sensor to capture their motion, and intelligent software enabled
their coaches to remotely assess their
performance during a training session. This was achieved through a
specially developed software algorithm that has the ability to accurately measure the athletes' lap times,
analyze their swimming techniques,
and much more.
Given that COVID-19 created social distancing as the norm in 2020,
and it most definitely will linger well
into 2021, there is a desperate need
to have access to technologies that
allow indoor fitness equipment to become digitally aware and, perhaps,
AI enabled. This will provide remote
access to coaches to offer individuals
the well-deserved and most suitable
training, a specific set of equipment,
and effective training strategies. It is
likely that this will facilitate increased
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSMC.2020.3035955
Date of current version: 14 January 2021

Using Technology to
Overcome COVID-19
Challenges
When such tasks are performed in the
virtual world using computer-based
games, the performance of the user
can be measured remotely, and collective and team-based training would
offer even greater, richer dimensions.
School children could benefit from
various exercises monitored by their
teachers and coaches remotely to correlate children's development and possibly link with their mental states.
This issue of IEEE Systems, Man, and
Cybernetics Magazine includes an article
that reviews these cutting-edge technologies: " Advances for Indoor Fitness Tracking, Coaching, and Motivation. "

Saeid Nahavandi

A system was developed to allow
these swimmers to
train in the comfort
of their local pools
without missing out
on valuable instructions given by
their coaches.
motivation to reach higher for even
greater physical excellence.
The concept can be extended to
sports and playing various games,
such as golf, squash, kayaking, canoeing, cycling, hiking, climbing, dancing,
and horse riding, just to name a few.

Ja nu ray 2021

About the Author
Saeid Nahavandi (saeid.nahavandi
@deakin.edu.au) earned his Ph.D.
degree from Durham University in
1991. He is an Alfred Deakin professor,
pro-vice-chancellor, chair of engineering, and the founding director for
the Institute for Intelligent Systems
Research and Innovation at Deakin
University, Victoria, Australia. His re--
search interests include the modeling
of complex systems, robotics, and haptics. He has published more than 950
scientific papers in various international journals and conferences. He is a fellow of Engineers Australia, the Institution of Engineering and Technology,
and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He is
a leading authority on haptically
enabled robotics and a Fellow of IEEE.

IEEE SYSTEMS, MAN, & CYBERNETICS MAGAZINE

IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - January 2021

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