From primetime TV to chit-chat around the water cooler, sports capture the interest, and pocketbooks, of people all around the world. This love of sports, and the rewards they can bring, drive millions to spend their free time practicing their favorite pastime. It is not all just fun and games, however. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that an average of 8.6 million Americans are injured in sports and recreation-related activities each year, with 50% of these injuries requiring medical treatment. When it comes to contact or combat sports in particular, the stakes can increase dramatically. Head impacts and other serious injuries can cause major problems for these athletes.

As is often quoted, knowledge is power, and that can definitely prove to be true in sports training. A Kickstarter campaign for the ORB Smartguard promises to provide contact or combat sport athletes with vital information to help them train smarter and push themselves farther, and perhaps avoid injury. The ORB Smartguard is an instrumented mouthguard that has sensors to enable movement tracking, heart function measurement, head impact monitoring, and as you might also expect, it protects one’s teeth. 20 performance metrics in total are captured by the self-contained device, and this data is streamed wirelessly to a companion smartphone app. The Smartguard can operate for up to four hours on a single charge.

The device is capable of recording heart rate, zones, averages, and ranges with a high degree of precision via an optical sensor. This provides information about the intensity of one’s training, and ORB claims that it will assist athletes in maintaining a high level of performance. The motion sensors built into the mouthguard are leveraged to detect head impacts — locations of impact, as well as accelerations and the size and range of forces experienced are all captured, which may be of use to healthcare providers, coaches, and even in selecting the most appropriate protective equipment.

Metrics related to movement intensity, steps taken, and estimated distance traveled give insight into how successful training sessions are. These metrics can be examined over time to assess progress and suggest areas that may need attention. All of the sensor data collected by the ORB Smartguard syncs with the ORB App via a Bluetooth Low Energy connection after training sessions to take a look at historical trends, and it is also possible to view some data in real time to make adjustments on the fly. The device is also said to be compatible with some third-party health tracking apps that you may already be using.

Where the device really stands out from all of the other early stage fitness gadgets is in validation. ORB has been actively testing their hardware and methods with professional sports teams for the past several years. The feedback from these trials has led to refinements of the Smartguard and allowed the ORB team to improve the accuracy of the sensor measurements.

The mouthguard is customizable, with ten different color options planned. Early bird pricing is still available, coming in at about $113, with an estimated delivery date in the summer of 2023. As expected with a Kickstarter campaign, rewards are not guaranteed, but if all goes according to plan, ORB will send backers a kit to make an impression of their teeth. Upon sending that back, a customized mouthguard will be manufactured. If you want to support the campaign, there is still time to get in before prices rise to the regular rate.