On Thursday, November 7, 2024, the fourth edition of the Digitalks took place, an event organized by Apptitude held in Lausanne at the Stade de la Tuilière.
In sports, hitting harder or running faster is sometimes no longer enough. One of the keys lies in the intelligence of decision-making: where, when, and how to act to maximize performance. Technology seems like a straightforward solution to assist athletes in their development and performance. But is it always the case?
Whether it’s managing the heat of a desert rally, understanding a horse’s performance, or optimizing a boat against the wind, data and technological tools appear to be redefining strategies. In this edition :
- Francis Degache, Exercise Physiologist (PhD) at Respire Performance
- Edouard Boulanger, W2RC Co-driver & Co-Founder of Respire Performance
- David Deillon, CEO and Founder of Alogo Analysis
- Luc du Bois, Data Analyst Engineer at Alinghi Red Bull Racing
shared their insights, successes, and challenges in implementing and using technology in their routines, under the overarching theme: “Sports and Technology: myths and realities.”
digitalks #4 on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at Stade de la Tuilière in Lausanne
The digitalks aims to bring together entrepreneurship, design, and engineering. Three speakers take the stage to share their experiences, successes, and challenges around a common theme. The goal is to present concrete and practical cases, avoiding any promotional approach.
Discover and register for the next edition: www.digitalks.ch.
Francis Degache, Exercise Physiologist (PhD), and Édouard Boulanger, 2024 W2RC World Champion Co-driver, combine their expertise to transform sensations into concrete data. Their mission? To go beyond the classic “be ready on race day” approach by optimizing every detail to maximize performance.
The world of rally-raid is far from simple. Behind the stunning visuals lies a harsh reality. Days start at 5 a.m. and end at 11 p.m., with athletes strapped into the car for 12 hours over consecutive days. Temperatures range from 5°C to 50°C outside and from 30°C to 65°C inside the vehicle, which is designed solely with safety and performance in mind. For the athlete, noise levels reaching up to 110 dB in the cockpit are just one more factor to manage, along with nights spent in tents amid the sounds of mechanics working on the vehicle. Ultimately, breakfast often becomes the only consistent meal. And in the end, a few seconds or minutes can determine the outcome.
In these conditions, how can one remain consistently performant? Most athletes in motorsports follow one mantra: be ready on race day. This is where technology steps in. While all tools aim to help athletes become their best selves, the reality is that only laboratory and field tests reveal the true value of these technologies.
Several solutions, such as AudioVitality, Bearmind, and cooling vests, have been and are being tested by this dynamic duo. Their foundational research seeks to quantify subjective sensations. While some solutions have proven successful, others have turned out to be failures.
During his presentation, David Deillon, founder of Alogo Analysis, detailed the work of his company, which specializes in analyzing the performance of riders and their horses.
This company aims to enhance rider and horse performance while prioritizing safety and well-being. Using sensors designed for both training and competition—validated for use in both contexts—Alogo Analysis delivers objective and precise analyses. However, to avoid any suspicion of technological doping, the data is not currently available in real-time.
Designing a user-friendly product was essential: compact and robust sensors capable of withstanding extreme conditions (humidity, heat, water, and sand exposure). These sensors stand out by offering 3D trajectory modeling and insights into the horse’s balance and consistency, addressing critical needs in a sport where every centimeter matters.
The data collected by Alogo Analysis complements veterinarians’ observations, going beyond subjective assessments often based on the rider-horse pair’s experience. Collaborations with other players, such as Polar, allow for heart rate monitoring of both horses and riders, further enriching the data.
But the journey has not been without challenges. The company had to address a fundamental question: “What should be done with this data, and how can it be made meaningful ?” .
For our final speaker of the evening, Luc du Bois, optimizing sailing performance is a delicate balance between science, tactics, and intuition.
In the sailing world, performance isn’t simply measured by a boat’s speed, but by its ability to make the most of the resources the environment offers. Unlike motorsports, where courses and constraints are (in principle) controlled, sailing depends on the whims of the wind, which can change from day to day and even moment to moment. The state of the water—whether calm or choppy—also impacts performance. The challenge is not about how long it takes a boat to complete a course but whether it maximized the conditions at hand.
Achieving this goal requires a precise model of the boat’s capabilities, including understanding potential speeds based on wind angles and strength. Modern tools, such as digital simulators, refine these predictions while reducing the costs of physical testing. These simulations incorporate complex data, from the forces generated by sails to foil adjustments and the differences between wind at altitude and at water level.
However, these models must face the reality of the sea. Once on the water, the boat’s sensors—sometimes hundreds—collect an enormous amount of data on forces, hydrodynamic performance, and boat behavior. This data helps assess power losses during maneuvers or the impact of foil cavitation, where water vaporizes under speed-induced pressure.
Despite the precision of measurement tools and models, sailing remains a sport where human skill makes the difference. Experience, intuition, and the ability to adapt to the unexpected are crucial. The wind, invisible and unpredictable, adds an element of uncertainty that even the most advanced data cannot fully eliminate. This duality between technology and a sailor’s instincts is evident in the communications—both precise and complex—between sailors, analysts, and designers. Turning intuition into actionable adjustments requires genuine dialogue between these worlds.
Strategically, a regatta isn’t won by sheer speed alone. Success lies in managing losses, particularly during maneuvers, and in quickly securing an advantageous position to outpace opponents. Once a lead position is achieved, it becomes extremely difficult for a competitor to overtake.
In essence, sailing is far more than a race of speed. It’s a subtle art of balancing science, strategy, and creativity. Understanding your boat, interpreting the environment, and working seamlessly with your team are the cornerstones of success. In this world, every detail counts.
Editor’s note: Unfortunately, we cannot share the video of this talk due to copyright restrictions
Discover the theme and speakers of our upcoming digitalks conference and register online at: www.digitalks.ch.