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New Pulse Play wearable is coming, aimed at racket sports players

A new wearable, aimed at tennis, squash, badminton and ping-pong players, is seeking funding on IndieGoGo.

We’re used to seeing new wearables every week, tailored to support all manner of different sporting and outdoor endeavours, and this week it’s the turn of the Pulse Play – a wearable developed for lovers of racket (and paddle) sports.

The device is developed by Israeli Grand Slam winner Andy Ram and it will keep score during your game, record your match history and even announce scores as they happen. Similarly to TomTom’s satnavs you can choose from one of 50 pre-recorded voices for your personal announcer, including Homer Simpson and Elvis, which should add a little bit of extra amusement to proceedings.

When you’re not playing the Pulse Play will let you review your match history and keep an eye on your stats, giving you the opportunity to see whether you’re playing more like Rafa Nadal or Rafa Benítez, and it will also provide you with a rank based upon your experience, so you can see how you stack up to the rest of the world.

The device will also let you search for new playing partners who are both local and of a similar skill level, so you won’t have to put up with being battered by the local prodigy just to get a run out.

In terms of the hardware the device is understated. It sports a split screen sitting atop a fairly unique looking thermoplastic wrist-strap, and it will hook up to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth to synchronise your data.

Doing the donkey work you’ll find a TI MSP430 chip, and the device is powered by a small lithium polymer battery which the developer hopes will be good for around 15 hours of use by the time the device is ready for market. The companion app experience will be available for iOS and Android.

The campaign has, to date, raised $54,000 of its $75,000 total, but you can still get involved and chip in. A $95 (£62) contribution will net you two Pulse Play devices, perfect to keeps tabs on you and your doubles partner or a friendly bit of singles competition.

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